Like or love?
by RoxyMoon
Summary: ShikaxOC ; Sora, hidden leaf ninja, just keeps struggling with how she feels. Except now, there seems to be a new emotion that added itself to the long never ending list of feelings to keep in check: love. Will Sora be ready for this long bumpy ride awaiting her?
1. Lazy day

**Hi everyone, welcome to my Shikamaru x OC story. Please let me know what you think after you're done reading. ****I would greatly appreciated, especially if its to encourage me and/or help me correct something.**

**Do feel free also to leave your thoughts on what you think will happen, I would always like to know your thoughts.**

**Anywho, here it goes! Remember that this will now be in 3rd person's POV!**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Naruro. Shoot.**

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><p><strong>Lazy day<strong>

It was just the perfect temperature: not too cold, not too warm. It fit perfectly fall, Sora's favorite time of the year. But the temperature wasn't the only factor of her good mood. Her birthday was coming up soon. She was wondering if anyone would remember this year. Ever since her parents died in a mission, there weren't too many people giving attention to Sora.

That's where her team came in. Thanks to Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, and Asuma, she felt like she found a second family which she could feel happy around. Although, six years later, she still missed her parents awfully a lot, she tried to concentrate on what she had now.

A little "tic" sound brought her back to reality. She looked down at the board on the table in front of her. Her opponent had finally made his move. She studied carefully the pieces while gently biting her thumb, like she always does when she thinks. After a moment, Sora let out a small discouraged sigh. It was no use. He outsmarted her…_again_. She looked up at her opponent to see a small smirk painted on his face.

"Looks like you win again, Shikamaru".

"Which means that…?" the black hair boy asked.

"I have to help sensei pay the barbecue supper tonight. I know. I didn't forget it," she answered in a desperate voice.

"Maybe I could let you win next time," he said while breaking the girl's eye contact to analyze the board game once more.

"Hey! That wouldn't be fair play! The day I beat you, I want it to be a game I win fair and square" she said all while faking an outraged expression.

"You're right. It would be too much of a drag to cheat," he said looking up again.

Both Shikamaru and Sora smiled at that statement. When they first started being a team, Shikamaru was surprised to find someone else than himself that was interested in shōgi. Thus, he took advantage of this discovery and thought her everything he knew on the game. However, not once had she managed to beat him. _It's like playing against a god_, she often thought.

"I guess the student didn't surpass the teacher yet." She got up and stretched. While quickly passing a hand through her hair, she started looking at the beautiful view around them, lost in thoughts once more. Shikamaru looked once more at the board while admitting mentally: _It was a close one_.

Then Sora suddenly broke the silence. "Hey Shika, isn't your birthday soon?" she asked out loud as the thought popped up in her mind.

"Yeah, September 22nd. In roughly a week, I'd say."

"Thought so…" she said.

"Why are you asking?" he asked her, looking at her aqua blue eyes.

"I was just wondering…" she said quickly. Wiggling around uncomfortably, she quickly broke eye contacted and looked at her hand like it was the most interesting thing in the world. She then managed to change the subject by asking: "Do you remember when our sensei wanted to meet us?"

"Nope. Usually, I let you remember those things" he answered stretching lazily on his spot.

"Thanks, that was very helpful," she said sarcastically.

He let out a sigh as he got up. "How about we go see Ino? Maybe she remembers."

"Sure, I think she's still working right now."

"Yeah, let's go," he said putting his hands in his pockets and starting to walk away, leaving the game behind.

Sora followed quickly behind him.

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><p>On the way, neither of them spoke. Part of the reason was because they couldn't find any interesting topic to talk about. The other part was because the silence was just comfortable.<p>

Finally, they entered a flower shop. As the door opened, they heard a small bell ring over their head.

At the cash in front of them, they saw a blonde hair girl talking to an older man with black hair. The man was holding a big bouquet of red roses freshly cut.

"So who are the flowers for, sensei?" the girl asked on this really annoying tone that always made Sora frowned. Looks like gossip queen was at it again.

"Nobody," the man answered much too quickly.

All three teenagers now had an amused expression on their face since they all knew who the flowers were for. They just found it really funny how their teacher was trying so badly to hide it.

"Sorry to interrupt your little trip to see Kurenai, Asuma-sensei" said Shikamaru, deciding to rub it in.

The man turned and finally saw two other of his students standing at the front door.

"How do you guys know?" Asuma asked.

"Well, it's really obvious?" answered the blonde girl.

"Ino's right. The flowers, the mysterious 'rendez-vous'… who wouldn't guess?" pointed out Sora.

Asuma sighed. There was obviously no way to hide his secret anymore.

"Wait until you guys fall in love for real," mumbled the grown man.

"Does she knows, at least?" asked the black hair girl curiously.

The man suddenly knew how to finish this awkward conversation for, at least he'd hope, today. Taking this window of opportunity, he answered with another question:

"Why do you sound so interested suddenly, Sora? Do you like someone and want some advice?" he asked with a wink.

The question caught the girl by surprise. Her face turned red in a matter of seconds. It did not help either when she noticed that everyone in the shop was staring at her. When she realized that she looked like a fish out of water as she tried to find something to say, she decided that it was better to avoid their questioning looks the best she could by staring at her feet, realizing at the same time that she might need to clean her shoes. Asuma suddenly felt bad. He hadn't thought that his question would put in her in such an awkward situation.

"Really? So who is it?" asked Ino with a huge mischievous smile, using that same annoying voice that she had used earlier with Asuma.

Seeing that she wouldn't talk, thus, meaning that the conversation was going straight for a wall, Shikamaru decided to jump in and change the subject.

"Anyway, we came here to know when you wanted to meet us at the barbecue restaurant."

Sora thanked in her head Shikamaru for his initiative. She really didn't want to talk about how she felt with her teammates. Why tell them when she didn't even know herself how she felt? Honestly, it made her want to cry and scream out in anger at the same time.

"What? You guys don't remember when? You both are really unbelievable!" Ino shouted. It seemed like she had already forgotten the previous hot topic, thankfully.

"We're sorry! It slipped out of my mind…" tried to explain Sora.

"Its okay Sora. In half an hour, that's when our meeting time is set," Asuma informed her while ruffling her hair.

"Good, I'll go get Choji then" said Shikamaru as he opened the door.

"And I have to go get my wallet at my house for tonight's supper" said the black hair girl in a desperate voice, suddenly remembering her deal with her friend.

They both walked out of the store as the bell over their heads rang again.

"She lost another game against him," chuckled the man.

"Shouldn't you hurry up and give your flowers, sensei?" suggested Ino.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going Ino".

Asuma then left the store as the blonde girl was starting to close her shop. Outside, Shikamaru and Sora were both walking their own ways lost in thoughts.

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><p><strong><em>So what did you guys think? Should I continue? I got some great ideas down ! :D<em>**

**_Let me know! Comments and reviews would encourage me to keep going!_**


	2. All this just to find a wallet

_**Hi everyone! Thank you all for staying with me this far!  
><strong>__**I'll admit that I had a lot of fun making this chapter. Lots and lots of humor!**_

_**I also took that time to introduce another OC. She's my main OC that I keep for my own personal stories.**_**  
><strong>**_Two quick notes about Reena (second OC):  
>1 - she hosts the 5 tails inside of her.<br>2 - do note how she doesn't call Kakashi "sensei" when she speaks about him at one point ;)_  
><strong>

**_That aside, back to our ShikaxOC story! Enjoy guys!_**

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><p>Sora was walking back to her house. It was very far from the center of the town. Actually, it was very close to the forest as her parents loved nature. When they died, she inherited the whole property. It was such a big empty place now….<p>

On her way back, she saw on the ground something shiny. When she picked it up, she could see that it was a silver dog tag kind of necklace. On the tag, there was a moon engraved on one side and a hidden cloud symbol on the other.

_Where have I seen this necklace before...? _wondered Sora as she looked at it closely. She was sure that she has seen this necklace before; she just couldn't put a finger on it though. After a while, she tucked it away in her pouch, convinced that she would remember eventually. When she arrived at her house, she took out her key and tried to unlock the door to then realize that it wasn't even locked to start with.

Walking in her house and looking around, she mumbled to herself:

"Now where could I have possibly left my wallet this time?"

She started by researching her room first, and then moved on to her kitchen, to finally end up in her living room. It was nowhere to be found. As she was about to head for her washroom, she heard a voice coming from the entrance:

"Sora...? Are you home?"

"In the living room Reena!" the girl swiftly answered.

A couple of seconds later, a white hair girl with golden eyes was standing in the same room than she was. The girl had been one of the few close friends that Sora had managed to make in the academy. Unfortunately, faith would have it that the two girls did not end up in the same team. In fact, they both had the opportunity of feeling like the 'extra students' that were assigned as a fourth person in three man squads for team 7 and 10.

"Sorry if I'm bothering you, Sora, but the door was open, so I wanted make sure it wasn't a break in," Reena told her.

"Its fine, thanks for checking though," she answered thankfully.

When the black hair girl looked up, she saw that her friend was giving her a questioning look.

"I'm searching for my wallet", she answered the silent question. "Geez, how did I lose it so easily?"

She stood up, putting one hand on her hip while lightly biting the other hand's thumb. Her house was a real mess as she really never took the time to clean it. Reena was also looking around, now grinning at her friend's question.

"No needs to answer, I already know why" Sora told her, lifting her hand toward her.

"Do you want me to help you look?" offered Reena who was trying not to laugh at her friend's discouragement.

"That would be extremely helpful."

Both rolled up their sleeves and with that started the research in different parts of the house. When Sora finally thought that she had lost her wallet forever on top of maybe being late for the supper, Reena shouted from the living room:

"Got it!"

"Really...? Where did you find it?" she asked while running in the room.

"On this table filled with all these drawings", she said giving the wallet to her friend before adding, "really good drawings by the way".

"Thanks, now I can go finally eat!" Sora answered, ignoring her friend's mention of the drawings. She somehow felt uncomfortable talking about them since many of them were based on memories that she still had from her parents.

As if her answer was the cue, her stomach started to make gurgling noises. Reena giggled as her friend blushed slightly. They finally both walked out of the house.

"Don't you want to lock your door?" pointed out the white hair girl as they were walking away.

"Oh yeah!"

Sora ran back to the door, finding her key in her back pouch to lock the door.

"I almost forgot!" she said as she walked back toward her friend while scratching the back of her head embarrassed.

"Again..." her friend mumbled. "I swear, one day, someone will just come in your house..."

"Don't curse it! Anyway, what are you doing out here?" asked Sora curiously.

"I've been searching for that bastard Naruto," she answered now looking angry.

Sora let out a sigh as she looked up to the sky. It was very common for Naruto to get Reena and everyone else in their team mad. If he didn't make her mad, he would manage to make the others angry. It just seemed like sometimes, although Naruto was trying hard to become besties with Reena, he ended creating more fighting than anything else. Sora's quick theory on the subject was that it may be due to the fact that they were both jinchūriki. Thus, the tailed beasts in them brought more frustration in the friendship than there should have been. But that really was just a theory.

"What did he do this time?"

"He stole a little something from me which is very very very important to me..."

"Then maybe he's hiding in town now. That's where I'm going so why not walk all the way there together?"

"Sure. I really thought that he ran toward your house earlier but now he's probably on his way back to the training ground or something".

"You'll find him," she said in hope to encourage her.

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><p>"Hurry up, Shikamaru! We're going to be late!" shouted a brown hair boy.<p>

"There's no way we're going to be late, sensei said in half an hour, Choji".

Choji was about Shikamaru's age. They've been friends for a long time and have been in the same team. He was a bit overweight, which was common for his clan. As long as no one mentioned it, there was no problem regarding this detail.

"Maybe he told you that, but he can be there early. If so, we can go eat early!" he said in a logical tone.

"Doubt it, he's gone to see Kurenei-sensei," Shikamaru mumbled as an answer.

As Choji was about to reply when a spiky yellow hair boy came out of nowhere.

"Hi guys!" he shouted in an energetic voice.

"Hi Naruto, what are you doing here?" asked Shikamaru, happy to change the conversation away from the useless debate they were having.

"I'm kind of running away from Reena…" Naruto answered as he scratched the back of his head in discomfort.

"What did you do...?"

"In order to prove to her that I had gotten better, I managed to steal a necklace from her back pouch when she wasn't looking," he announced proudly before his expression turned into a gloomier one.

"Then why aren't you giving it back? I'm sure she'll forgive you," commented Choji

"I don't think that's the problem..." Shikamaru pointed out to his friend.

"Exactly... I kind of lost it," explained Naruto, now really discouraged.

"Ouch" mumbled both guys as they knew that the girl could be quite scary when angry.

Naruto let out a desperate sigh before adding:

"Mind if I walk with you guys?"

"Sure, why not. We were actually heading for the barbecue restaurant," announced happily Choji.

"Your sensei is paying?" asked the blonde boy.

"Yeah, with the help of Sora... She lost a deal," said Shikamaru with a smirk.

"Again," added Choji before both of them laughed a bit.

"I wish my sensei would pay us a treat as often as yours..." mumbled Naruto.

They all three headed to the restaurant. They chatted about several things, like Naruto's new training, how long they hadn't had a "real" mission, etc. About 15 minutes later, they finally arrived to their destination.

"I'll have to leave you guys now," announced Naruto as he turned to walk away. Barely did he make a step that he froze on place. In front of him, there was Sora and Reena walking side by side chatting.

"Crap," mumbled a very panicked Naruto.

As Reena saw Naruto, everyone saw her face change from happiness to anger. It was a matter of seconds before she was up to him and pinning him to a wall before he could do anything to get away.

"I'm sorry! I'm really really really sorry!" Naruto shouted with panic as he saw the girl lifting her fist.

"This is your last chance Naruto! Where is it?!"

"I... d-don't k-know," he answered nervously.

"What do you mean you don't know?!"

"I kind of lost... it...?" he said in a small voice that was almost a whisper.

"You lost it?!" she yelled out in furry. "YOU LOST IT?!"

"I'm going to find it! I promise! Please let me go!"

"You're going to regret you were even born Naruto Uzumaki! This time Kakashi isn't there to help you!"

While the beating started, Sora walked up to Shikamaru and Choji.

"Somebody is going to have a hard time," she said to them.

"Yeah, and to say it's just for a necklace," Shikamaru said looking away from the horrible scene.

"A necklace?" the girl asked as she was also looking away from the beating.

"Yeah, Naruto told us he snatched it from her back pouch but then he lost it," told Choji, still somehow looking at the fight.

It suddenly hit her: that necklace she found on her way home was Reena's. She remembered her friend showing it to her, telling her that it was the only thing that she had left from her hometown and clan. She shoved her hand down her pocket to take out the object and ran toward her friend.

"Reena! Isn't this what you were looking for?" she asked loudly, waving it at her.

The white hair girl turned her head and released the boy when she saw her friend. Walking toward Sora, everyone could see how relieved she was to have found her precious treasure.

"Where did you find it?" she asked.

"On my way home... I'm really sorry, it took me a while before remembering it was yours," Sora answered her as she dropped the necklace in her friend's hands.

"Thank you so much! Come to think of it, visit me later on when you'll have the time. I might have something that will interest you".

"Sure. See you later!"

Reena walked away, heading toward her house.

"Is she gone?" asked Naruto, still in shock.

"Yeah, the way is clear," answered Choji.

Painfully getting up, he walked toward the group. He didn't look alright at all. Looking at Sora, he asked her:

"Why didn't you give it to her earlier? I could have avoided all this!"

"I didn't know what she was searching for it until he told me," she answered in an apologetic tone, pointing at Shikamaru.

"Girls, I'll never understand them. Making such a racket just for a necklace," the boy mumbled.

The other two boys shook their head in agreement.

"Hey! You do realize I'm still here, right?!" said Sora looking offended.

They all laughed at her reaction. It was then that Asuma and Ino finally arrived. Choji was already drooling at the idea that they were about to go eat.

"Wow, what happened to you?" Ino asked looking at Naruto.

"A very long story..." Sora answered for him.

"...which we'll answer once we'll be inside eating!" Choji completed her sentence.

"Well, I have to go meet Iruka who's probably waiting for me!" Naruto told them before he ran off waving back at them.

"Okay, let's go in before Choji eats someone," announced Asuma laughing.

"Alright!" yelled out Choji.

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><p><em><strong>Aaaaaaaaaand that is it! I <strong>__**know there wasn't a lot of Shikamaru and Sora together in this chapter but this helped me introduce new important aspects of the story. That's why I tried to make it as funny as possible.**_

_**Share the love and review guys! I'll be waiting to see what you all thought about this while working on the next part (which I already have started - man I'm on fire! Hahaha)**_


	3. What a girl needs

**_Hello everyone! Thank you for reading this far. _**

**_If you have any comments and questions don't hesitate to review/PM me!_**

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><p>Everyone's stomach was pretty filled up, beside for Choji, whose belly seemed to have no end. As Ino was about to take the last piece of meat on the grill, Choji snatched it right in front of her.<p>

"Choji, give that back! You already had enough!" she complained.

"The last piece is mine!" said Choji, delighted.

"It's not fair! You ate twice as more than..."

But she interrupted herself when she saw the boy, whom she was fighting with, put the piece of meat in his mouth. She automatically got pissed off.

"Choji, you fa-...!"

"Ino, don't say that word," swiftly interrupted Shikamaru as the girl was about to say the taboo word.

Choji, on his side, didn't seem to have noticed anything as he chew happily on his piece.

"I'm going to the washroom," he announced as he got up and walked away.

"I'm going too," said the blond girl still frustrated.

Asuma, Shikamaru, and Sora watched them walk away.

"Well, it was really good. Thanks for treating us, sensei," Sora said with a smile.

"You can't really thank me Sora, since you're helping me pay too" Asuma answered while winking at her.

"Yeah, I know. But it's better than paying it all by myself! I'd be broke much faster without you."

"You know, you really don't have to pay if you don't want to," he said, looking at her directly in the eyes.

"A deal is a deal. I never go back on my word," the girl said while lifting her right hand up solemnly and covering her heart with her left.

"…or that would be cheating," Shikamaru teased her in a mocking tone.

She turned and gave him a mean look. Then they all three burst out laughing.

"I'll go to the washroom then I'll come back to help you pay, sensei," she said as she got up.

On the way, she saw Ino and Choji talking in front of the washrooms.

"I don't know how you do it," commented the blonde girl.

"Do what?" asked Choji.

"Eat like that! I try to avoid that because I'm on a diet" she answered.

"I should be the one asking you how you do it! I can't imagine myself doing a diet!" he replied while rubbing his belly with his left hand.

"But you should still try. You know people are attracted to think people like me".

The boy didn't reply. Sora could see that he was lost in his thoughts. Ino didn't wait for a reply. She just spun around and walked in the girls' washroom. Sora walked up to Choji and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Choji. Do what you want, not what someone else says or you'll just end up being sad in life," she told him.

"Thanks" he said as he smiled.

He turned and walked in the boys' washroom. Sora entered the girls' one right away. When she came out to clean her hands, she saw Ino at the sink.

"You know, you shouldn't tell Choji how to be. If he like what he is, then let him be," said shyly Sora.

"Yeah, sure, whatever... However, I want you to tell me who is your crush!" Ino said as she closed the water and turned to face Sora with that annoying smirk on her face.

The black hair girl blushed as she got angry.

"Forget it. If you seriously think I'm going to tell you then you're wrong!" she gave out as an answer.

"Do like you wish, but I'll figure it out after a while," Ino said still smirking. "I have a great intuition for these things!"

She turned and walked out. But before crossing the entrance of the washroom, she looked at Sora over her shoulder and added:

"But if you think you can attract a guy with your looks, than you're wrong. Guys like long hair and attractive girls like me," she said passing her hand in her hair. She then added spitefully, "you just look like that Sakura".

She then walk out, leaving Sora alone. Sakura was a pink hair girl, in Reena's and Naruto's team. Her hair was down to her shoulder just like Sora and never really managed to attract the one guy that she really liked.

Sora looked at her reflection in the mirror over the sink. She suddenly realized that she never really cared about how she looked, but how she acted. She never thought a comment like this would affect her one day. She started to look at her features more carefully. What was there to like?

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><p>Asuma, Choji, and Shikamaru were talking together when Ino came back to the table.<p>

"Hey, I'm sorry to leave so early, but I told my mom that I would help her with an urgent delivery tonight. So I'll see you guys later?" she asked.

"Yes, we might meet tomorrow, but I still haven't decided what time. I'll come by your flower shop to tell you when I'll have decided," told her Asuma.

"Sure! See you guys tomorrow then!"

As she walked out of the store, Choji remembered that he also had to leave.

"I'm supposed to meet my dad. See you tomorrow sensei and Shikamaru," he announced in a hurry before leaving.

When Choji was out, Shikamaru and Asuma started to talk again. A couple minutes had past when the man suddenly said:

"I wonder what's taking Sora so long." He then added jokingly, "I hope she didn't escape so she wouldn't have to pay!"

"That would also count as cheating," told Shikamaru.

They both laughed at the joke. However, they stopped abruptly when they saw Sora coming. She didn't look too good; in fact, she seemed completely out of it. Something was clearly troubling her as any hint of happiness from earlier was now gone.

"What happened?" asked Shikamaru.

"Nothing," she answered in a dry voice.

She took out her wallet out and took a bit of money. She then gave it to Asuma as she put her wallet back in her pouch.

"Here's the money, it should cover at least half of the tab. I have to leave."

And without any further explanation, she turned and walked out of the restaurant.

"It almost looked like she either cried or was about to," said Shikamaru.

"Oh, trust me, she didn't cry and neither will she do anything of that sort. It has been a long time since I've seen any tears coming from her," said Asuma in a very sinister voice while looking outside.

Shikamaru was still looking at the door through which Sora just left. He was completely lost in his thoughts.

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><p>Sora was sitting on the side of a river, her feet in the water. In front of her, she had a perfect view of the sun set. She was lost in her thoughts for a long while now. All kind of things kept popping up in her mind.<p>

"I wonder... no..." she said to herself before adding, "why do I even care about those things?"

The girl let out a sigh. It was starting to be very dark outside. There was nothing to do. There was no one waiting for Sora at her house and just that thought added more pain in her heart. She started to think about the people that she knew. When she thought about her friend Reena, she suddenly remembered that the girl had told her to come and see her tonight.

She got up quickly and put back her shoes on, now excited to see what her friend had reserved for her. Jogging all the way to her friend's house, it took about ten minutes before she ended up standing in front of the door of an apartment. She was about to knock but then stopped in her track as she remembered that Reena was now sharing an apartment with Kakashi. Just that thought made Sora feel really awkward.

The door suddenly opened and a very surprised white hair girl was standing there:

"Hey Sora...! I thought you wouldn't come by since it was getting really late."

"I'm really sorry Reena. I forgot you wanted to see me. Am I too late?"

"Of course not! It's never too late to visit me! Why don't you come it?" Reena answered as she moved sideways to let Sora come in.

The black hair girl walked in. When she looked around, she saw that Reena's place was much neater then her own.

"Wait… how did you know I was in front of your door? I didn't even knock!" asked Sora curiously.

"Oh, it's a kind of thing I can do... You know, with the five tails and all..." answered awkwardly Reena while rubbing the back of her head. It wasn't her favorite thing to talk about. Since people usually freaked out, she learned to avoid talking about it.

Sora decided to change the subject. "Kakashi-sensei isn't here?"

"Oh no no. He's gone on a mission," Reena said giggling a bit. "I wouldn't have invited you over if he had been here!"

"So... why _did_ you wanted to see me?" asked curiously Sora.

"Well, on my last mission, I found something interesting and it made me think about you."

"Really? What is it?" asked the black hair girl getting more and more interested.

"It's a bit hard to explain it without showing it to you first. Here sit on the sofa, I'll be right back!"

She walked into her room and shuffling noises were heard. Finally she walked back out and brought a box into the living room.

"Open it," told Reena as she handed it over to her friend.

Sora could now feel great energy coming from it. She slowly opened the box. Inside, there was a silver chain which had in the middle of it a light blue stone held by small silver wires twirling around it. A soft light was coming out of the stone. The crystal was very special and it almost seemed like it was water even though the stone was very hard. The girl took the necklace in her hands and felt her chakra being connected to it. She looked up with a questioning look at her friend.

"It's an aqua stone, very rare. Legend has it that water dragons would create them and then offer it to a human worthy of their trust. It has the power to boost the energy of its owner, in one condition: that person has to have water as a chakra element. When you'll wear it, you'll feel more... connected to water I guess you could say. What it really does is that it stores a bit of your chakra and amplifies it for when you need it. It's really useful because with it, you'll learn all water based techniques much more quickly. Just be careful, it can drain your stamina more quickly if used wrong," she explained.

Sora looked at the stone once more.

"Why are you giving it to me?"

"Because your chakra element is water, and you're my friend," she answered gently.

"But you can make your chakra turn into water element too with the Houkou's power."

"That is true; however my natural element is lightning. Being connected to water just feels so…wrong to me. Now try it on!"

Sora smiled a bit at her friend's excitement. She took the necklace and attached it around her neck. Reena quickly got up and walked to her bathroom. She soon came out, afterwards, with a small mirror.

"It matches your eyes," she told her giving her the mirror.

The black hair girl looked in the mirror. It was true; the necklace was exactly the color of her eyes. She smiled weakly at her reflection.

"Sora..."

The girl looked up at her friend.

"What's wrong? Don't try to say nothing because I know you more than you think" Reena warned her.

"Something really stupid," Sora answered, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

Reena came to sit down beside her.

"Do you want to talk about it, we are alone here," she offered.

Sora hesitated a bit. If there was one person she likes to share her worries with, it was Reena. But she really didn't want to look like an idiot. She bit her thumb gently.

"Do... you find me ugly?" she finally asked with almost a whisper.

The question obviously took Reena by surprise. She never thought her friend would, one day, ask such a question.

"Of course not...! Where did you get such an idea?" she said softly.

Sora didn't answer and looked down, but it was too easy to guess.

"Ino," Reena mumbled spitefully. She really didn't like the blonde girl.

Sora let out a sigh as an answer.

"Don't listen to her. You know what I think?" she asked before answering with a smile, "I think that the people that are trying too hard to look good, like Ino, usually are the one that turns ugly. But don't go tell her that, or you might not get to see me live another day".

Reena's comment made the girl feel better, somehow. They both stayed silent for a bit. Sora was looking at her necklace, truly liking it. Finally, her friend broke the silence.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Now it was Sora's turn to be surprise. Reena rarely, to say never, asked questions.

"Umm... Sure." she answered.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but is there anyone, by any chance that you like?"

Sora closed her eyes. She was getting really sick and tired of that question. However, Reena had asked it in a different way; a nice way where she had given her the option to not answer.

"I'm not too sure about it. I mean, it might just be temporary, like just a crush..."

"It's good that you don't skip to conclusions, but don't let your chance slip by either."

The black hair yawned involuntarily.

"We should get to sleep now, it's getting late" said the white hair girl looking up at the time.

"Hey Reena, may I stay here for the night. I'll sleep on your sofa," asked Sora.

She really looked exhausted. But she also didn't want to be alone. She wanted to sleep where there would be someone nearby. Tonight wasn't a good night to be by herself.

"I don't mind. I'll go get a good pillow and warm blankets," the white hair girl said as she got up.

Sora stayed on the sofa while her friend was gone to get all the stuff for her. She really liked the necklace. She felt like trying its power right now, but she managed to convince herself to try it only tomorrow.

"Here you go, Sora" said her friend as she came back with the necessary things. "Have a good night!"

"Thanks. You too!"

Wrapping herself in the blankets, it didn't take too long for sleep to come. She was too exhausted to stay awake any longer.

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><p><em><strong>And this is it for now!<strong>_

_**I'd really like to have some review in order to continue. I want to know if you guys think it's good because honestly, right now, I don't even know if you guys like it or not, if it's good, etc..."**_

_**So, as always, show some love! Please review!**_


	4. The scroll merchant

_**Hello everyone, thank you for reading this far.**_

_**I'd first like to thank coolblast for the really great review you did. It encouraged me to continue.**_

_**I'm also going to be a little bit slower at updating this story since I'm kind of caught in this storm called mid-terms... haha...**_

_**I'll do my best to keep updating!**_

_**I'm also surprised to see how my other story Anbu's life  is so popular. I really didn't expect to see such a popularity with that story!**_

_**As always, I don't own Naruto or anything related to it.**_

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><p>Shikamaru was walking down a road. He had just crossed his sensei while walking with Choji. Asuma had told them to meet at the training ground number 42. The boy offered to go tell Sora while his sensei would go see Ino. Choji, on the other hand, decided that he would go get some food first.<p>

When he arrived at the girl's house, he knocked on the door. He waited for a while, but nobody answered. He tried the door knob; it was locked.

"She's not there," he told himself.

He looked down at the ground. The soil seemed like the kind to keep footprints. He could see his own but nothing more.

_She didn't even sleep here,_ he thought. _Maybe she's in town…_

He turned to walk back. Konoha was huge. It would take a while for him to find the girl.

At that thought, the boy let out a sigh while putting his hands in his pockets. "What a drag."

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><p>When Sora woke up, she could smell pancakes. She got up quickly and went to the kitchen to see Reena making breakfast.<p>

"Need help?" she asked.

Reena turned her head.

"Oh no no! I'm fine. I'm almost finished, so if you want to take a shower now, we'll be ready to eat afterward."

"Okay! Second door on the left?" Sora made sure.

"Exactly," her friend answered.

Sora took a quick shower. When she came out, as promised, breakfast was ready. She ate quickly with her friend and helped her clean the dishes as a thanks for the meal. Finally, before leaving, Reena gave her friend a blue scroll.

"There's a special technique inside. The hand signs are a bit long but with the necklace I gave you, you should be able to do it easily after performing it once," she explained.

Nodding her head, Sora opened the scroll. The list was indeed very long. At the top, she could read: _Water release: water dragon blast technique_.

"Awesome! I'm excited to try it!" said the black hair girl in excitement.

"Just be careful with it, it's very powerful," warned her friend. "If you want, we could practice it later?"

"Sure! But now I need to leave. I want to go see my sensei since he said that we might meet up today."

"Oh wait! I'll walk with you! Sakura wanted to see me," remembered Reena.

The white hair girl ran around her house to gather her things. When she was done, she met her friend at the front door.

"I'm ready, let's go!"

They both walked out, and Hikari locked the door behind them. The girls then headed to town. On the way, they heard a merchant, who seemed new around, advertising his merchandise.

"Out of techniques? Come and get new ones here!"

They went to see closer. The shop was surrounded by little kids studying in the academy. Reena took a scroll with the symbol lightning on it. They both looked inside. On the top it said: _Lightning release: Dragon's lightning rage_. Right under it, there was a bunch of random handsigns written under.

"Those are not the right hand signs," murmured quietly Reena, knowing the hand signs of this technique by heart.

"We should report it then," told her Sora.

"We can go together at the end of the day," offered the white hair girl.

"Sure, if he's still here."

"Oh trust me. He won't go anywhere with the money he's making," pointed out Reena.

"Yeah, you're right," agreed Sora.

As she agreed, they heard someone shout:

"There you are Sora!"

Sora turned around to see who called out her name. Shikamaru was walking toward where the two girls were standing.

"Hey Shika, what are you doing here?"

"Searching for you. Asuma-sensei wants to see us at the training ground number 42," he answered.

"Then I'll have to leave you Reena," the black hair girl said to her friend.

"Meet you in front of the Hokage office at four then?"

"Okay!" agreed the girl.

She then headed off with Shikamaru toward the training ground. However, something was off. Their usual comfortable silence didn't feel as nice for either of them.

Getting closer to the training ground, the boy stopped. This atmosphere was, for some reason, really getting to him. Sora turned around to look at him.

"Shikamaru, why are you stopping?"

"Where were you last night?"

"Um, well at Reena's place," Sora answered, not quite understanding why it mattered to the boy.

"What was wrong yesterday then?"

The girl bit her bottom lip. She wasn't ready to cover that kind of topic with Shikamaru. Heck, probably she would never be. Not knowing what to answer and feeling trapped, she naturally started feeling mad. At the boy's surprise, she turned around and said harshly while walking away:

"Why am I suddenly being interrogated? If I wanted to share my personal life with you, then I would."

"Gee… I was just worried," mumbled Shikamaru dumbfounded.

"Then why don't you bother Ino instead?" she spat out, which she immediately regretted for various reasons.

She was angry in general but couldn't really pinpoint to whom it was directed now. Thoughtful, she spent the rest of the walk staring at the ground quietly.

When they arrived at the training ground, the others were already there. Ino was sitting down on the ground, choji was eating chips and Asuma was holding four colored scarf in one hand and smoking with the other one.

"You're finally here," said Ino as she got up.

"Yeah, sorry if we're late," said Sora while giving a mean look at Shikamaru, which didn't go unnoticed to the blonde girl.

"Doesn't matter, as long as you're here," said the sensei.

"So why did you want to see us, Asuma-sensei?" asked Choji.

"For a little test."

"A test? Why?" asked Sora worried.

"To see where you are at. You are all Chuunins now," answered Asuma.

"So what kind of test is it?" asked the black hair boy.

"You will all have a scarf attached around your waist. Your goal is to get the more scarf you can in the next four hours. I will be here just to make sure that no one gets killed," he explained.

"If we get ours stolen, can we try to get it back?" asked curiously Ino.

"Yes, now choose the scarf you want," Asuma said as he holded out the scarf in front of him.

Sora took a sky blue one, Choji took a grass green one, Ino took a dark purple one, and Shikamaru took a black one.

"At the count of three you can start. 1… 2…" counted the sensei.

Everyone got ready to jump. They were all waiting for the magic number.

"3" finally said the man after a drastic wait.

The whole team hid. The training ground was perfect. It had a lot of trees and bushes, and to top it all, a huge river running through it.

Sora was hiding high in a tree. From there, she had a good view of the ground while being well hidden. She was also listening carefully for any sounds while trying to calm down the storm of thoughts raging in her head. Everything seemed peaceful for now...

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><p><em><strong>This is it for now. It's a bit shorter so I can set up the next chapter properly!<strong>_

_**As always, share the love, please review/fav. Comments would be highly appreciated!**_


	5. The test

**In case of confusion, I did delete the first chapter. I'm sorry guys! It's just I had way too many people reading it and not reading the rest...**

**Oh wow. Sorry about the humongous wait! I hope that the length of this chapter will compensate :)**

**Anyways, thank you guys for your patience. Let me know what you think! Please? **

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Damn it.**_

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><p>Shikamaru was hiding in high bushes. On the ground, in front of him, he had all his stuff spread out. While making a mental of what was available to him, the boy let out a sigh and put everything back in his pouch. His mind was still off wondering what was wrong with Sora.<p>

He listened for any noise. It would be better if he didn't have to fight someone, so a sneak attack would put him at advantage. The boy then heard a noise that made him smile: a rustling chip bag. He got out of the bushes and walked silently toward the sound. As Shikamaru got closer, he shoved his hand in his pouch and took out a smoke bomb. He was convinced that he could make it quick and have a good escape.

When the boy moved slowly the bushes in front of him, all he saw was a bag left on the ground.

_Choji set a trap?_ thought the boy surprised. He looked around and that's when he saw a couple of strings on the ground.

"Looks like he's going to get fooled by his own trap," he murmured as he jumped in a close by tree.

He took out a shuriken and threw it at one of the strings, cutting it on the way. As the string was cut, the boy could hear a little bell ring.

"I'm waiting for you, Choji," said Shikamaru with a smirk.

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><p>Sora was still waiting patiently in her tree when she heard a little bell ring. Just a few minutes later, the girl heard a loud rumbling noise. Curious, she decided to go see. While staying hidden, she jumped from tree to tree. She soon found a place filled with smoke. The wind shortly blew everything away. When the girl could finally see, she saw, in the middle of the clearing, Choji standing and scratching his head but with no scarf.<p>

"Looks like his plan didn't work," mumbled the girl.

A sudden rustling noise came behind her. Sora jumped around just in time to see Ino holding her hands in a triangle formation in front of her.

"Mind transfer jutsu."

Ino's mind took over the girl's body.

"And that's what you get for letting your guards down," chimed the blonde girl inside Sora's body.

She made the black hair girl take off her scarf and attached it around her own currently unconscious body. She then made her jump off the tree and, in mid-air, crossed her hands in an X while saying:

"Release!"

Ino's mind went back to her respectful body. Sora also slowly took over her body, just in time to let out a scream as she saw the ground coming up fast and nothing to possibly stop her fall.

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><p>Shikamaru was walking away while keeping his guards up. Just like Ino, he now had two scarves: a black and green one. He also managed to use only a shuriken and a smoke bomb. He just had to find the other scarves while make sure he doesn't get his stolen.<p>

A scream suddenly grabbed his attention. Something happened and he had recognized Sora's voice. If she got attacked, she probably didn't have her scarf anymore. He looked up at the sky. He wanted to go see if she was okay but was afraid that it could be another trap.

"Why not," he said quietly, finally giving in to the urge of helping her.

He then headed in the direction he heard the scream. When he arrived on the spot, the boy saw Sora lying on the ground. She was bleeding horribly. He looked around but no one was there, not even his sensei.

Shikamaru picked up the girl and headed to a place well hidden with bushes and trees. When he laid her down, he checked her pouch to find the bandages that she usually carried around for her team. The boy then covered her wounds with them, stopping the bleeding. He pulled the girl close to the water. Not only would it wake her up, but it could possibly refresh her.

The black hair boy saw that she was already slowly waking up. He would have loved to stay with her so she could see that he took the risk to help her. That way, she would stop being mad at him which really bugged him. But he couldn't. He also had to think of the test. Sadly, he jumped away, letting her wake up alone.

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><p>When Sora opened her eyes, the first thing she wondered was how long she had been unconscious. She looked up at the sky. Not too long from what she could figure. She then saw that she wasn't at the same spot that she had fallen. On top of that, she was bandaged up. Someone took the time to help her. Was it Choji? She remembered that it happened close to where the brown hair boy was.<p>

She then saw the river. It could be helpful to her. Sora didn't have any scarf anymore. In other words, she had nothing to risk anymore. The girl decided that it would be her turn to create a trap. She wanted payback.

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><p>Shikamaru was hiding in a tree not too far from where he left the black hair girl. He was trying to figure out another plan in order to get at least another scarf. While he was thinking, he noticed a movement. Looking carefully, he saw Sora walking in a wide open place close to the river.<p>

_She's fine_… he thought relieved.

But something interesting caught his attention. His partner had a black scarf around her waist. The boy touched his own scarf. He still had both of them. He smiled as he knew what this meant: it was a trap. She was trying to attract someone to steal their scarf.

She then turned her back on the training ground, facing the river and faking putting her guard down. Shortly after, he saw Ino appearing. She had both a purple and a blue scarf. It was tempting to just jump in and try to steal them but if he did so, he would be stuck fighting both girls.

"Hey Sora, got a new scarf for me?" shouted out Ino.

"Only if you can get it from me," answered the black hair girl who didn't bother to turn around.

"Won't be too hard, now will it? I already got your first one after all. But come to think of it, isn't it black?" pointed out the blonde girl.

"Yeah, why? You're becoming color blind?" Sora asked with her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You got it from Shikamaru," said Ino with that annoying tone that simply got on her teammates' nerves. "What did you do, ask nicely?"

Shikamaru frowned from where he was hiding. What was In implying?

"What do you mean," asked the black hair girl, tensed

"Oh, come on! He's the only guy I can guess that you would like!"

It caught Shikamaru off guard. Sora liked someone and he hadn't noticed it.

The comment ticked off Sora. She quickly did a couple of hand signs and said:

"Water release: Multi arms jutsu"

Water from the river came out and did a circle around her. Strips of water stretched out in the air, having the effect of octopus arms which Sora could control with her chants like a puppet.

Ino took out several shurikens and threw them at the girl. The young blue eyes girl moved her hands, making the water move in front of her to block the flying projectiles. She then hit the air in front of her, making the water arms dash towards the blonde girl, hitting the ground as the girl dodged them. As a counter, Ino made a hand sign, making clone illusions. All of them dashed at the same time. Sora twisted her hands while crossing them and the water arms twirled around her. She then hit the air downward, making some of the water hit around her. The shock was enough to lift a lot of dust off the ground. Shikamaru, still hiding in a tree couldn't see the scene anymore.

He banging noise made by the water heavily hitting the ground stopped after a few minutes. It took a while before the wind blew away ball the dust. When the scene was visible once more, Ino could be see laying on the ground and Sora was walking toward her with her jutsu still active around her. As the girl was about to bend down in order to take her well-deserved scarves, a voice came out of some bushes close by.

"Human boulder!"

Choji came out rolling at high-speed, heading straight for Sora. The girl thankfully had the reflex of lifting her hands in the air, making the water surround her in a protective bubble. When the boy made contact with the water, the bubble, still holding the girl inside, flew all the way in the wide deep river. Sora Disappeared in the water and didn't come back.

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><p>Sora was at the bottom of the water, still within the protection of the bubble she had created at the last minute. She was looking at the top of the water, lost in her thoughts. Here, at the bottom of the river, she could think much more clearly.<p>

"If I get one off guard, I get attack by another one," she thought out loud.

She put her hand in her pouch, checking what she had at her disposal. While rummaging around, something quickly grabbed her attention: a scroll. She pulled it out and looked at it.

With a sly smile, she said out loud: "They might know all my tricks, but they'll never expect his one."

She opened the scroll and saw how long the hand signs list was long. While reading over them, her right hand went up to her aqua stone around her neck. _I only need to do it once to remember it. That's what Reena said. Fine. I can do it underwater but I'll first need a distraction._

The girl made another hand sign.

"Water clones jutsu."

Several clones of her appeared outside of the bubble.

"Go!" she told them while pointing upward.

With a nod, the clones swam back to the surface.

"Let the fun begin," Sora said, looking back down at her scroll.

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><p>When the girl vanished in the water, Choji took his normal shape again. He then walked towards Ino who was still lying on the ground. As he untied the scarves and got up, his body froze. He turned around involuntarily and saw Shikamaru with both their shadows connected.<p>

"Shadow possession, success."

He lifted his right arm and so did Choji, which was the arm holding the scarves. The black hair boy then faked throwing something and his victim threw the scarves to him. As Shikamaru was about to catch them, someone or something cut by, grabbing the objects on the way. The boy broke his technique and looked to see what stole the scarves.

"Wow, Shikamaru. Thanks for making it so easy," said Sora wish a proud smile.

Soon did the boys realize that it was just a fake when they saw several other clones jump out of the water. They all started to fight, the boys trying to find the real Sora. In the confusion, Ino woke up and when she saw a clone with her scarves, she jumped on it. Angrily, she tried to retrieve them.

The fight went on until a huge wave suddenly was suddenly seen scrolling the river. The clones looked at the river then at each other with a knowing smile.

"Have a good time guys!" they all said at the same time before disappearing, leaving a puddle of water where they once stood.

"Wait. What the hell was that? Where's the real Sora?" asked Ino, looking at the guys.

But the boys were as clueless as her. A noise coming from the river grabbed their attention. Turning around, they could see Sora standing on top of the water.

"Hey guys, missed me?" asked the real Sora.

She looked at the same time mad and irritated which, to put simply, made her look scary. The girl had a plan and no one would get in her way to stop her this time. She started to do several hand signs.

Noting the complexity of the technique, Shikamaru panicked and threw several kunais. However, they were quickly blocked by a leftover clone that jumped out of the water. Following the boy's train of thoughts, Ino tried to throw some shurikens but it also missed. Shikamaru attached an explosive on a kunai knife and threw it. As the water clone caught it, it exploded, leaving the way open. As the boy took out more kunai knives, Sora shouted:

"Too late!" She performed her last hand sign and said: "Water release: water dragon blast jutsu!"

The water around her started to form into a gigantic beast. When it completed it's shape, it had roughly the height of the Hokage's office. Expressions of surprise and terror could be seen on everyone's face.

"This is going to hurt!" yelled out Choji as he walked back.

The beast growled. Suddenly Asuma jumped in and shouted:

"Sora, you have to stop! This technique might kill someone!"

"I...I can't! It's too powerful!" she told him in terror.

She had indeed lost control. The best finally dashed toward them. The man took out a special snift, concentrated his chakra in it, and threw it toward Sora. The chakra helped the knife go through the beast and hit the girl in her shoulder. She yelled out in pain and the beast technique broke over them, soaking everyone on the ground.

Sitting on the water, Sora was trying to pull out the knife from her shoulder but the shape of it only caused more pain which led her to lose of concentration over the chakra that maintained her on the surface of the river. She was slowly going down. Asuma ran to her, lifted her, and brought her back to the dry surface. As she was lying in her sensei's arms, the others got closer.

"That was intense," mumbled Choji.

Shikamaru was standing there, looking at her still in shock.

"What were you trying to do? Kill us?!" yelled Ino, also traumatized.

"I...didn't want to. It was an accident…" Sora said weakly from losing too much blood.

Feeling guilty, she looked at Shikamaru but all she received was an intense look. Sora finally lost consciousness.

"The test is over," Asuma said as he started walking toward the hospital.

"I'll go with you," said Shikamaru.

"Fine. You guys can go home," Asuma said as he looked at Ino and Choji.

No one said anything, still too in shock.

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><p><strong>And that is it for now! Share the love, write a review! Reviews = motivation!<strong>

**Seriously, I really need to know what you guys think!**


	6. Depression

**In case of confusion, I did delete the first chapter. I'm sorry guys! It's just I had way too many people reading it and not reading the rest...**

**I think I'm doing well with updates now… What do you guys think?**

**So just a bit of a heads up, my OC, Reena, can get angry pretty quickly and she does have a way to get on Shikamaru's nerves. Also, reminder: Reena does have the five tails in her :D**

**Anywho, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer**_**: Tried to by the rights of Naruto on ebay, didn't work...so I still don't own Naruto -sigh-**

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><p>Sora slowly opened her eyes. She was lying down on a bed, with blankets on top of her.<p>

"Hey, our little princess is waking up!" said a familiar voice.

The girl turned her head to see Reena sitting in a chair beside the bed with a book on her lap.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

The black hair girl didn't answer. She touched her sore shoulder where she had been hurt. Her friend noticed it

"Don't worry, they healed your shoulder. You shouldn't feel any more pain."

"Yeah, they didn't have a choice, now did they? I think they were scared that you were going to rip off their head if they didn't help her right away," said another familiar voice in a very annoyed tone.

That's when she saw him. Beside the window, Shikamaru was standing there, looking outside.

"Maybe, but you don't need to be so rude about it," replied Reena in a childish voice. She then added with a frown, "Besides, what's wrong with you anyways? You've never had issues with my ways before. Ever since that test happened, you have changed and that is certainly not a compliment."

The last part seemed to set off the boy. He turned around and walked up to Reena to face her. The white hair girl got up, crossing her arms with a dangerous expression on her face. Her five tails' instincts instantly flared up. They both seemed very pissed off. Even the atmosphere in the room became very cold.

"Maybe if you hadn't given her a scroll for such a dangerous technique, she wouldn't have tried to kill us all," he said in a low dangerous tone.

"How was I supposed to know that she would have used it before we had any time to practice it safely? It's not like I didn't warn her!"

"You could have taught it to her right after you gave her that scroll!"

"Oh for god's sake, get real. She was still mentally exhausted from her day. Guess what? She's a HUMAN BEING. I actually thought you were smart, damn it!"

As their argument continued, they kept talking louder and louder, which was really surprising from Shikamaru's part. They were at the point of yelling when Asuma finally came in the room.

"That is ENOUGH! We can hear you both from the main entrance of this hospital. If you guys want to fight, do it somewhere else!"

His presence seemed to have brought both of them back to reality. Feeling bad, they turned to look at Sora. The girl was sitting in her bed, looking down at her hands, tears rolling down her cheeks. Frustrated that he could have caused that, Shikamaru let out a sigh and walked out of the room without saying anything.

"I'm really sorry Sora… We both know better than that…" Reena apologized softly.

The black hair girl remained quiet as her friend walked out of the room.

"Are you going to be okay?" asked Asuma.

"Who cares…" finally said the girl while hiding her face.

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><p>Shikamaru was walking up a hill. It had been now over an hour that he left the hospital. He knew that she would be there since her and Sora used to go there whenever they were upset about something or simply wanted to get away from everything.<p>

As he arrived at the top, as expected, he saw Reena. She was sitting there, her chin resting on her arms that were crossed over her knees, looking at the village.

"What do you want…" said the girl in a tone that seemed so… depressed.

The boy scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. "I'm here to apologize. Gee, I don't know what was wrong with me."

"I apologize too. I should have known better," she answered.

Walking up beside her, he asked: "Can I sit here?"

"Yeah...sure."

They sat there in silence, staring at the village quietly. From where they were sitting, they could see all the activity going on through the streets and even on the roofs. This relaxing sight made Shikamaru promised to himself that he would accept Sora's next invitation to come relax here. She had bugged him so often about coming here but having already found his favorite spot in the village, on one of the roofs, he had always refused her invitations.

"So… did she manage to really pull it off? The technique, I mean," Reena asked, breaking the silence.

"Heh, yeah. It was really terrifying how well she performed it, if you ask me."

They fell silent again. Being friends back at the academy had been great. Even when he had discovered that one of his childhood friends had the five-tails demon inside her, he had remained calmed, deciding that she was still the one whom she has already been. It was the same situation than Naruto, when he thought about it. The exception, really, was that she was more relaxing. So when she and Sora hung out together, it didn't feel as much as a drag to be around her.

"Hey Shikamaru…"

"Yeah?"

"Keep a close eye on Sora."

What she said definitely snapped him out of his thoughts. He stared at her, studying her expression carefully. Something was bothering her.

"What's making you say that?"

"Well… um… how can I say this…" she started, twisting her fingers together uncomfortably.

"If it's related to the five-tails, just go ahead."

Reena looked at the boy in confusion.

"Sora told me," he answered her silent question.

"Gee, that girl tells you way too much!" she said while rubbing the back of her neck.

Shikamaru laughed. He realized that the girl did tell him a lot. He just never really realized it.

Reena sighed.

"Look. It doesn't happen often but my instincts are buzzing. I can sense that something nasty is going to happen. I just can't tell what. The best that I can get out of it is that it might be related to Sora… But it's only a maybe."

"And why do you want me to look over her?" asked Shikamaru.

"Well, for several reasons. First, I received a C-rank mission and I'm leaving tomorrow. Second, you're on her team. And finally, I can't tell you the other one because it's a secret," she finished with a huge grin on her face, thinking about her friend's secret.

"Gee. What's up with you girls and secrets? Such a drag…" said Shikamaru.

"Hey!" shouted out Reena pouting.

With a light chuckle, he got up.

"If I want to look over her, I better start now and head back to the hospital, I guess. Are we okay?" he asked to make sure.

Reena laughed lightly, "Yeah, we are!"

"Well, I'm going now!" he finally said while walking away, waving a hand in the air for his friend.

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><p>When Shikamaru arrived at the hospital, he headed directly for Sora's room. Little did he know that the girl had already left, until he reached her room that is. Seeing it empty only made him more confused. Walking back out, he headed for the main office.<p>

"Hey, I'm here to see a friend but she's not in her room anymore," Shikamaru told the receptionist.

"Her name?" asked the woman.

"Sora. Sora Tonbo."

While shuffling through her papers, the woman mumbled the name several times.

"Ah! Tonbo! Yes, it would like she has left not too long ago," said the reception is gleefully.

"Already?"

"Yes, yes! It would seem that she has requested to leave despite the doctor's medical opinion."

"Damn it, Sora..." mumbled the boy turning around to leave. Just as he was about to open the door, he remembered his manners, turned around and thanked the lady who, thankfully, hadn't seem offended at all.

Once he was outside, the boy started to think about where the girl would go. The only valid conclusion he came up with was her house. And so, he was off to go see her.

* * *

><p>Sora unlocked her front door of her house and walked in. Looking around, she quickly realized that there was nothing to do. She let out a sigh and decided to go to the living room. Sitting down on one of the sofa, she brought her knees up against her. She felt awfully depressed. In fact, she wanted to be disconnected from the world for a while. She wanted to be alone where people wouldn't fight over her stupidity.<p>

Crossing her arms on top of her knees and putting her head down on it, she started to cry. She hated herself more than anything. Even worse, she had no one to talk to, no shoulder to cry on, no mother's warm caresses... no more family. It was one of those moments where she wished she had perished with her parents. She didn't want to be alone anymore.

She was quickly brought back to reality when a knock on her door was heard. Sora hesitated. Finally, without lifting her head, she shouted: "who's there?"

* * *

><p>"It's me," simply said Shikamaru, knowing she'd recognize him.<p>

It was starting to be dark outside. He knew he'd be late for supper but he would find a good excuse to tell his mother so she won't break his ears.

"Go away."

He hadn't expected that. He had thought that she would open the door, talk to him so he could apologize to her, and go home happy. He sighed. Guess things were going to be a tad more complicated.

"Sora, open up. I want to talk to you."

"I said : go away!"

Her voice had come more clearly this time. He had never heard her sound like this and unsure what to do, he finally decided not to try again. Maybe just a good night's sleep would make her feel better.

"I'll come back tomorrow..." he finally said.

He then walked away, never getting an answer.

* * *

><p>"Shikamaru Nara. You are late," said a man when he came in.<p>

"I know dad. I had some business to do," he answered, annoyed.

"What kind of business?" asked the man in a strict tone.

Shikamaru looked down. Truth was, he had been so busy thinking about the girl that he had finally forgotten to make up an excuse.

"It was related to Sora," he finally admitted.

"By the face you're doing, I'd guess that it didn't go as planned," said his dad, softening his voice at his son's expression.

"Yeah, she refused to let me in her house to talk. Girls are too complicated. First they want attention, then, when you give them some, they make a huge drama about it!"

His dad laughed which made the boy even more annoyed.

"Think of it, what could make her act that way?"

Shikamaru felt a shot of guilt run through him. He knew all too well the answer.

"If you want my advice, go back there tomorrow. Stay the whole day if you have to."

"But that's such a drag..." the boy replied lazily.

"If you want to win her heart, you'll need to start making some sacrifices."

His dad's comment caught him by surprise.

"I don't..."

"Shut up and take the damn advice."

Shikamaru sighed and looked outside with mixed feelings. What did he feel for her?

* * *

><p><strong>Woah, end of the chapter! Double update in the same week? Sweet, isn't it?<strong>

**As per usual, share the love, write a review :))**


	7. Happy Birthday!

**So, for some strange reason, I started writing more for this story and I ended up writing a LOT. Thus, like _ANBU's life_, I will be doing weekly updates!**

**Thanks _lovinurbuks _(did I write it properly?) for the review. I sure was happy to make a double update which led me to the weekly updates that I mentioned earlier. Nice, eh?**

**Onward****!**

_**Disclaimer:**_** I don't own Naruto but I very damn well own this fanfic ;)**

* * *

><p>When she woke up this morning, Sora felt empty. She felt like a ghost roaming around her own house as she look at all the mess which she had no energy to pick up. The only thing she did feel like doing was perhaps draw. On her way to the living room, she noticed a paper on the ground in front of the front door. Picking it up, she saw a really crappy drawing on a paper. At the bottom, she could read:<p>

_Sora,_

_I had to leave really early for a mission today and didn't want to wake you up. I just want you to know how sorry I am about yesterday but if it makes you feel better, Shikamaru and I are okay now. _

_Reena_

_P.S.: if you can't guess what the drawing is, then just forget it. My drawing talents are embarrassing compared to yours!_

The girl kept staring at the picture but really couldn't figure out what it was. This kind of note would have normally made her laugh but not today.

Sora knew that what she was doing seemed stupid to others. Hell, it seemed stupid to herself. Although she couldn't explain it, she was hurting deeply on many levels. So when, this morning, Asuma had come by to knock on her door, she hadn't been very receptive. It just felt wrong to her to impose her presence on anyone anymore. She wasn't sure what she was going to do but right now, it just seemed wrong to go outside. Acting like she doesn't exist gave her some kind of comfort.

* * *

><p>Around noon, Shikamaru reached the girl's house. He didn't want to come too early as she might still be sleeping but turns out that someone else came earlier. Walking closer to the house, the boy saw his sensei in front of the door.<p>

"Sora, are you thinking about them? I know it's that time of the year…" the man said softly. But he was only rewarded with silence.

Seeing his student walking closer, he decided to change subject.

"Just promise me that you're at least eating?" Still no answer.

Asuma signed. Frustrated, he took out a cigarette and lit it up, thoughtful.

"She's still inside?" the boy asked.

"Yes…" his sensei answered, still frustrated, as he continued to smoke.

Shikamaru walked up to the door and knocked.

"Sora? I'm back like I promised."

"Go away," the two heard from outside.

Asuma started to cough in surprise. When he managed to breath normally again, he stared at the boy in wonder.

"That's already better than what I got," he told him.

"Well, it's not what I would have liked," frowned Shikamaru.

His sensei grew even more thoughtful. Then with a smile, he patted his shoulder and before walking away said:

"Well, better leave things up to you!"

The student watched the man walk away. Unsure what to do, he turned back to the door and said:

"I'm going to sit here outside. If you ever change your mind, you know where to find me."

Rewarded with silence once more, Shikamaru sat down with his back against the house's wall. Looking up at the blue sky, he wondered: _Just what am I doing?_

* * *

><p>So, sure Sora had asked for company but she wasn't thinking of Shikamaru when she had wished it. She was thinking more about her family. Now, not only did she feel like a burden for everyone, she felt even worse about Shikamaru. Turns out that he came back the next day and the day after, still waiting for her to come out.<p>

She opened slightly a curtain and looked outside. There, as promised, the boy was sitting in front of her house, his back against the house, sleeping. Ironically, it was exhausting for him to spend his days there doing nothing. Closing the curtain again, Sora had an idea. Walking in her kitchen, she looked around for what she had. Although she wasn't hungry and hadn't really eaten for the last few days, she still found enough stuff to make something decent.

After finishing what she hoped to be a delicious sandwich, she walked toward the front door. On her way, she stopped and checked once more through the window to make sure that Shikamaru was still sleeping. After confirming so, she took a small paper, scribbled on it quickly, slipped the note on the plate, and very slowly and quietly opened the front door.

* * *

><p>Waking up, Shikamaru looked up at the sky to see how long he had slept. He was afraid that he would have missed something but then realized where he was. Sitting there all day was really getting to him. Stretching out, he noticed something on the ground beside him. There, beside him, was a plate with a sandwich which made him smile. He also saw a small paper on it. He took a look at it and read: <em>Please go home<em>.

As if she would see this as an answer, he crumbled the paper. At first, he had stayed there because he felt bad. Guilt had driven him to come back. Now, he was worried. It had been a couple of days and Sora still hadn't come out of her house.

Taking a bite in the sandwich, his stomach growled happily; turns out he was hungry. His mind soon travelled somewhere else. Going through all kind of things, his mind decided to start reflecting back on all his time he spent with his team. He didn't notice the sudden appearance of his father in front of him. Still munching on his sandwich, Shikamaru actually jumped when his dad finally spoke to him.

"Still here?"

Recovering from his shock, the boy looked up at his dad and asked: "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Choji came by today looking for you but you weren't home since you were sitting here."

"Just following your advice dad…" he said, rubbing his face.

"Choji wanted to know what you were planning on doing tomorrow," continued his dad as if his son hadn't said anything.

Shikamaru stretched once more. Sitting all day was making him sore.

"Probably come back here."

"On your birthday?"

The boy blinked. Mentally, he started calculating in his head how many days he's been here. His dad was right. Tomorrow was his birthday. His analytic mind started working automatically.

"Heh, it sure is," he answered with a smile, a plan slowly forming in his mind.

Seeing his son's mind at work, his dad smiled knowing that he had found a solution.

* * *

><p>The next day, he walked up to the house and knocked on the door like he did every morning.<p>

"Hey, it's me," he said without waiting for an answer.

"I still don't want to see anyone," Sora said near the door.

"You won't let me see you even on my birthday? I feel kind of hurt," he said while faking to be offended.

A silence followed and Shikamaru smiled, knowing that she was thinking. A few more minutes passed, before he heard a light click from the door. When it opened, Sora was standing there looking awfully… well, like crap. Without saying a thing or even looking at him, she moved sideways to let him in. Walking in, he looked around to see the same old mess ruling the place.

"Happy birthday…" she said in almost a whisper as she closed the door.

"Thanks. How are you feeling?" he asked looking down at her.

"Really good," she answered still looking away.

He sighed and walked toward the living room. Finding a cleaned sofa, he sat down and asked:

"Sora, how are you really doing?"

She followed him slowly. Walking in the living room, she avoided his question and asked another one.

"Why are you wasting a day like today here?"

"Because I was worried for you."

As soon as he had answered, he noticed her expression becoming sadder. His answer had made her feel bad and more like a burden. Seeing this, Shikamaru took a deep breath and said:

"And because nothing else would make me happier than spend the day with you."

Sora looked up surprised. She definitely hadn't expected that kind of answer. Seeing her struggle with what to say, he added while rubbing his neck:

"So want to go eat ramen and then hang around?"

"Um… sure. I… just need to take a shower and get dress in something more, well, presentable."

He smiled. "I'll wait here."

She almost ran out of the living room to go get ready. Once she was out, he let out his breath, realizing that he had been holding it in. Not sure what to do, he started to look at the drawings on the table in front of him. They were really nice drawing, mostly of nature and, not so surprisingly, dragonflies. There were also writings on some of them, most of them looking like quotes but the author wasn't written.

When Sora came back in the living room, he was looking at one of the few pictures that had colour: a blue dragonfly. Looking up, he saw the girl wearing some of her usual clothing but she looked really nice to him. Not sure if he should complement her, he decided to talk about his drawings instead:

"You really have a great talent in drawing. Where do you get your quotes?"

"Oh… I just imagine most of them," she half lied.

He decided not to push any further, almost afraid of scaring her away. He quickly got up and said:

"Ready to go?"

"Sure!" she said with a half-smile.

She looked exhausted but there was at least a bit more energy on her face. They walked out, closed the door and started walking away.

"Hey, don't you need to lock your door?" he asked.

"Oh yeah!" she remembered. She quickly got back to the door, took out a key from her pouch, and locked the door. "Now, we're ready to go!"

Side by side, just like they always have, they walked silently all the way to the village.

* * *

><p>The day had been a good day. Once they reached town, they went to eat ramen for lunch. Gradually, Shikamaru had managed to bring Sora out of her bubble. As they continued talking, it progressively felt just like it always had: the two of them just hanging out and relaxing.<p>

When they were done eating, the girl had insisted on paying for his lunch. He resisted at first but seeing how happy it would make her, he finally gave in. Afterwards, while walking around, they started wondering about what to do. They boy suddenly had an idea and told her to follow him. A bit later, they had reached the hill where Shikamaru had met Reena a few days later. Sora seemed surprised by his idea.

"Well, I realized a few days ago how relaxing this place really was and since you used to invite me here all the time… that's where I got my idea," he said while rubbing the back of his neck.

She smiled. "I'm glad you do. Doesn't beat your usual spot though, right?"

"Actually…" he started. He took the time to lie down on his back and looked up at the clear blue sky. "I might actually have taken a liking in this place."

Sora sat down beside him. "You? Changing your preferences? Never thought I'd see that one day!" She laughed lightly.

Hearing her laugh made him feel better. All the remaining worry he had felt these last few days flew away at that moment. He closed his eyes in content and heard noise beside him. Opening one eye, he saw the girl had lied down beside him on the ground and was looking up at the sky like he had. Closing his eye again, he savored the moment.

* * *

><p>When it was starting to be dark outside, the two decided that it would be time to go back to the center of the village. Reaching the village, they started to walk aimlessly. Still talking about random things, the girl heard something that made her stop.<p>

"Out of techniques? Come and get new ones here!"

The girl spun around, recognizing all too well that line. There, on the side of the road, the same scroll merchant was selling his fake scrolls.

"Sora? What's wrong?"

Looking back at Shikamaru, she opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted.

"Shikamaru! Shikamaru!"

They turned around and saw Choji running toward them.

"There you are! With Sora too! So glad to see you again!"

The girl smiled sadly, remembering these last few days. Seeing her expression sadden, Shikamaru looked at his friend and tried to change the subject.

"What's up Choji?"

"Oh yeah! You have to follow me. I have something really awesome to show you!"

"What is it?" the black hair boy asked again.

"It's too amazing to explain it. You really need to see it. Come on!" Choji said while walking away in the direction he came from.

Shikamaru looked at Sora to see what she thought about it. She looked him and shook her shoulder, showing him that she was as clueless as him. Running after their friend who had already left without waiting for them, they didn't notice the scroll merchant studying carefully the young girl with a dragonfly symbol on the back of her shirt.

They ended up following their friend until they reached a restaurant.

"Food? That's your amazing thing Choji?" asked Shikamaru, unimpressed.

The boy laughed embarrassed and scratched his head.

"You'll see why I was so excited once you'll be inside!"

"Fine…" gave in the boy.

When Shikamaru walked in, Choji winked at Sora before they followed their friend in. That's when she knew that something was up. Once inside, they heard:

"Happy birthday!"

Further on the left, they saw Asuma and Ino sitting at a table with huge smiles on their face. Shikamaru chuckled.

"That's why Choji was being weird," he said.

"Damn it, Choji! You said he wouldn't expect anything!" shouted out Ino.

"Hey! He didn't say he expected it! Beside, look who else I found!" the brown hair boy said while giving a little push to Sora.

Asuma's smile grew even bigger.

"Sora! It's so nice to see you out and alive!"

The girl grew uncomfortable but still made an effort to smile.

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Don't be, come on. Sit down with us!" her sensei said.

She didn't need to be told twice. Sitting down with her team, she watched them as they gave their gifts to Shikamaru. It made her feel even more uncomfortable as she realized that after spending a whole day with him, she had forgotten to buy him a gift.

After the gift opening session, the waiter arrived with their suppers. Shikamaru noticed Sora's sad expression. Making sure the others were distracted, he leaned close to her and whispered:

"Don't be sad. Coming out of your house and spending the day with me was enough of a gift to me."

She looked up at him to see him smiling and she reflected it.

"Thanks," she mouthed.

He nodded quickly and turned back to face his plate. Together, the team started talking about possibly getting another mission soon seeing how long it has been since the last one they had. Asuma took the opportunity to joke about creating another hard-core training for the team if they were too bored. He got several ugly looks as an answer which made him laugh out loud.

After the supper, everyone went their own separate way except for Shikamaru and Sora. Although the girl had insisted that the boy, with his arms full of gifts, should go back to his house, he decided to ignore her complaints and walk her back home, making up an excuse about how dangerous it was in the dark. She, of course, told him that she was a ninja, a chuunin nonetheless, but he ignored her again.

As they reached her house, they stopped in front of her house. Facing an awkward silence, Shikamaru spoke first:

"Promise me you won't go back to locking yourself in?"

She smiled. "I'll try."

"Well, I guess I should warn you that I will ask Choji to run down the door if I discover that you are," he said with a sly smile.

She laughed lightly. They then fell back in silence. Sora looked up at the starry sky.

"Great view, isn't it?"

The boy looked up and replied: "Yeah."

While he was distracted, Sora took the opportunity to get closer. She kissed him lightly on the cheek which surprised him. As he looked down into her eyes, she smiled and said:

"Thanks Shikamaru for what you did."

And without leaving him any time to respond, she grabbed her keys, unlocked the door, and went in her house. Just before closing the door, she told him:

"Good night!"

But the boy was still too surprised to answer quickly enough. When she closed the door, she put her back against the door with her hands by her side, thinking about what she just did. Squeezing her eyes shut, she thought: _What the hell was I thinking?_

* * *

><p><strong>Here you go guys! Lots of fluff. <strong>

**I'm debating whether I should change the rating on this story from a T to an M. What are you thoughts? Also, aren't things going oh so smoothly? Could it be that something is coming? Dun dun dun! If you want to share your thoughts, feel free to do so in a review!**

**As per usual : share the love, write a review! Favs and reviews are good motivators. I'll be waiting impatiently until next Monday to know what you guys think!**


	8. Jealousy

**Hi everyone, thank you for still reading this far, the few that you are... I'm actually surprise to see that the other story which I'm writing in parallel is so popular. Is it because Kakashi is more popular than Shikamaru or because people don't like OCs stories? Kind of sucks considering how much more I wrote on this story...**

**Anyways, thank you _lovinurbuks_ for the usual review. I appreciate the time that you take to write them and I love reading your opinion. I think I'm taking a risky turn with my story starting from here but I find that it makes the story more interesting compared to if I had just jumped into the super over the top fluff right away. I really like to build it up :)**

**Let me know what you think guys?**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Naruto. If I did, I think I'd have my OCs running around in it! Haha..****  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Two days later, Sora was running around her kitchen, desperately looking for things to make lunch. Turns out that during her depression a few days ago, a lot of the food had rotten. Normally, this wouldn't be a crisis but since Asuma had invited himself over for lunch, she was panicking. With the help of Shikamaru, she had managed to feel better and she was determined to prove it to the man who was still worried.<p>

Finally, she stopped running and stood in front of what she hadn't thrown out. There wasn't much. Determined to make it work, she ran to her room, grabbed her wallet and her usual attire and ran out of the house. Looking up at the sky, she decided that she would have enough time to swing by a grocery store and maybe even clean her house a bit. While running, she took her wallet out and calculated how much money she had leading her to decide which grocery store to go to. Reaching downtown, she zigzagged around the massive crowd and finally reached the grocery store she wanted to go to. Even inside the store, she kept rushing. She didn't want lunch to be a fluke as she also wanted to show Asuma how responsible she could be on her own.

After paying for her massive amount of groceries, she picked up three huge paper bags filled with her newly bought food and balancing everything in her arms, she started sprinting back to her house. However, as she turned the corner outside, she hit something or someone hard and fell on the ground.

"Ow!" she said as she sat back up and looked at all the food that had fallen on the ground.

"I'm so sorry! Are you ok?" asked a manly voice in front of her.

Looking up, she took notice of whom she had run into. A tall guy, about her age, with chocolate brown hair and hazel brown eyes, was staring down at her worried. The sight of him made her feel butterflies in her stomach, exactly like those she had been having recently when she hung out with Shikamaru. Getting on all four, she started picking her things while saying embarrassed:

"No, no! I should apologise. I wasn't looking at where I was going..."

The boy kneeled down and started helping her.

"I should have at least tried to catch you!" he told her with a smile.

Still not used to feeling the way she was, she tried avoid his stare and concentrate on the food. When they finished picking everything up, they got up with the bags in their arms.

"That's quite a lot for you to carry alone. Let me help you. I still got time before I need to go work," he proposed in a cheerful tone.

"Oh, I'm fine! I'm used to these kinds of things!" she blurted out.

"Haha, I insist!"

Without giving her time to refuse again, he picked one of the two bags she was carrying so she would now need to only hold one.

"So, where are we off to?" he asked with a huge smile.

"Oh, um... south. I mean the south sector, that's where I live," she answered uncomfortably. This guy was nice but he made her feel... different.

"South, huh? That's perfect! That's actually near where I have to work!"

As they both walked in the right direction, curiosity finally had gotten the best of the young girl.

"What do you do for work?"

"Oh, I'm a builder. My dad is an architect so he plans all the building and the team I work with makes sure that they become reality."

"Cool..." she said looking in front of her. She was so used to being surrounded by ninja friends that being friendly to someone who had a different career was something new.

"So which rank are you?" he asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Huh?" She looked at him confused.

"Well, I'm guessing by the headband around your neck that you're a ninja. So which rank are you?"

"Oh! I'm a chuunin!" she said proudly.

"Wow, at your age? You must be good!"

"I have great teammates," she answered giggling as she started feeling a little bit more comfortable.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru walked in Ino's flower shop. As soon as the door was open, a little bell rang over his head. Almost immediately Ino popped up at the front of the store.<p>

"Shikamaru, you came!" she said cheerily.

"Yeah, but I don't have much time Ino. What's up?"

"Well, I need to speak to you about important matter which may be just more urging than anything else."

The boy looked amused. "I promised lunch to Choji, so I'm pretty sure that's also important."

The girl, who looked over the boy's shoulder, mumbled, "Sora...?"

"Uh, yeah. We're probably swinging by her place later to see if she wants to hang out with us. Why?" he asked confused by the girl's illogical train of thoughts.

"No! I meant : oh my god, is that Sora?" she said as she grabbed her friend and spun him around.

Together, they looked outside to see Sora, holding a bag of groceries, talking and walking side by side with a handsome young man, who also was holding two grocery bags. They both seemed to be enjoying their current conversation.

Connecting two and two together, Ino smiled slyly and said with that famous annoying tone:

"Well, no wonder she's been hiding him. With a cutie like him, anyone would be jealous!"

Turning around, Shikamaru looked at Ino.

"Just what are you talking about?" he asked, now irritated by what he saw.

"Oh, come on! It was obvious! You remember how shy she got when sensei talked about love. She wouldn't tell me who it was but she couldn't hide it forever!" she answered all excited. The girl was sure that she had pierced her teammate's secret and was already thinking about who she should gossip to.

Knowing her usual train of thoughts, he tried to stop her.

"Ino! Leave her alone. If she didn't want you to know, then there must have been a reason."

But with his unconvincing tone and her determination, there was no stopping her. Seeing that this was going nowhere, Shikamaru decided it was time to leave.

"Hey! Where are you going?" the blonde girl asked.

"Out. I told you already. I'm meeting Choji," he replied, annoyed.

"Okay! Gee, sorry for asking!" the girl said on a defensive tone.

As he left, she leaned over her counter and started thinking. What had gotten into Shikamaru suddenly?

* * *

><p>When they arrived at her house, Sora and the boy stopped in front of the door. The girl took her keys out, and inserted them in the door. She closed her eyes in frustration when she realized that she, once again, forgot to lock her front door.<p>

"Something's wrong?" the boy asked.

Her eyes shot open. "Yes! No! I mean... actually yes. My house is a huge mess and it would be better if you didn't come in," she blurted out.

He laughed. "Trust me, I have it worse! We're only men living in my house."

Knowing that she can't change his mind, she finally decided to let him in. Bracing herself for the worse, she walked as fast she could to her kitchen, hoping he'd follow her just as fast but he didn't. Slowly, he walked behind her, taking the time to look around.

"That's a really nice place you've got there!" he told her a few minutes later when he reached the kitchen.

"Thanks," she said rubbing the back of her neck.

As he put his bags down on the counter, he turned to look at the girl.

"Hey, you know what I just realized?"

"What?"

"We never properly introduced ourselves. I'm Daichi!" he said as he stretched out his arm in front of him.

"Oh right! I'm Sora!" she introduced herself and grabbing his hand to shake it.

She was about to let go when she noticed that he was still holding on. Looking into her eyes, he said:

"Want to go out with me?"

"Huh?!"

Sora had been so surprised that she didn't know what to say. She never faced that kind of situation and her only reaction was to pull her hand away.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I was thinking about it all day, so I came to forget how this would seem sudden to you..."

Sora looked down to her feet.

"I-I'm sorry! I can't accept!"

"Oh? Are you already with someone? I'm sorry, I didn't check first!"

"No, no! That's not it!" she said while waiving her hands in front of her. "I'm just... not ready for this kind of thing!"

The boy stared at her and smiled softly. "You have never gone out officially on a date?"

"Um, well...no," she said bringing down her hands.

"How about this then: give it a shot and come on a date with me tonight. After that, if you don't like it, we'll stop it there."

The girl studied Daichi's face. All she could see was sincerity and kindness. Finally, she asked:

"Can I think about it?"

"Of course!" he replied happily. "I'll be working until four today at the construction site near here. If you decide to try it out tonight, come and see me before then!"

"Wait, you mean the little school they're building?"

"That's us!" he answered proudly.

"Woah!"

"So think about it, ok? I need to go work now but I hope I'll see you later!" he said while heading toward the door.

"Ok! Have a good day!"

"Yeah, you too!"

And as quickly as she had met him, the boy had left.

* * *

><p>As soon as Asuma had knocked on the door, he heard:<p>

"Come in, sensei!"

He opened the door and walking in, he was surprised to find the place the exact opposite from what he expected: clean. Walking toward the dining room, which was connected to the kitchen, he soon found Sora putting the final touch on their lunch.

"Do you have to call me sensei even though we're alone?" he asked knowing full well the answer.

"Yes. We have already covered this. Although you are my godfather and legal guardian, I am still to honor you with the title 'sensei'," she told him, bringing two very well elaborated bento box on the table. "Eat up!" she added with a smile.

"Well, you're awfully happy. This is night and day compared to a few days ago. What got you in such a good mood?" he asked while digging in his food. The taste was amazing.

"There was a turn of event this morning that I never expected. It just put me in a really good mood," she told him in a cheerful tone.

"Oh? Care to share?"

A light blush appeared on the girl's face which grabbed his attention.

"Not now, but maybe later? What did you want to see me for?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Hm. Well, I don't want to ruin your mood but I'm here to talk about how you are feeling. It's almost that time of the year..." he said softly, studying her expression.

In a matter of seconds, he watched her face go from the happiest expression he had seen from her in a while to a much more serious and sad one. It broke his heart to know that he was the cause of it.

"You mean the date that my parents died."

"Yes," he answered still softly.

She put down her chopsticks and rested her hands on her lap as she stared at him.

"After all these years, it still hurts just as much. I would have thought that it would become easier to bear with over time..."

Asuma stared at her with care.

"I know and I wish I could do something about it. But I'm still here if you ever want to talk more about it or if it becomes too painful. I agreed to let you live your independency but it doesn't mean that you need to live through everything on your own. If for any reason you need my help, just say the word."

Sora had picked up her chopsticks again and started picking at her food.

"I know... And I truly do appreciate your intention."

There was a silence that settled in for a few minutes, as if they had continued to share their conversation quietly. As he was about to compliment her on how amazing her lunch was, a loud knock was heard on her front door. The girl looked up in confusion

"Were you expecting anyone?" her sensei asked.

"No, at least not that I can remember. You were the only one I had plans with today."

"I'll go check for you," he said with a smile as he got up.

A few seconds later, Sora heard voices coming from the front of her house.

"Sensei? We didn't expect to see you here!"

"Well, here I am Choji," the man answered with a mocking tone.

"Is Sora here?" asked a second voice.

"I certainly hope so Shikamaru. This is her house after all," the man continued joking. "Come in!"

Sora hid her face in one of her hands. Whoever asked her if they could come in?

When they walked in, the first thing Choji did was check out the lunches sitting on the table.

"These smell good! Did you make them?" he asked the girl.

She smiled. "Yeah, if I would have known that you two would come by, I would have also prepared you some."

"In other words, don't touch my lunch!" Asuma said with a laugh.

"Beside, we already ate Choji," Shikamaru told him.

Sora looked at her black hair friend curiously. Something felt different about him. Usually, he would have joked with his friend about eating again but not this time.

Noticing her curiosity, Choji told her: "Don't pay him too much attention. He's been grumpy ever since this morning."

Shikamaru ignored the comment as he sat down at the table. Not knowing what to do, Sora got up and offered to prepare some tea for her new guests which Choji accepted happily. While she was behind the kitchen counter getting the tea ready, the girl finally took pity on her friend who was now drooling over her bento box. She told him that he could take it, pretexting that she was already full. Asuma sighed with discontent but didn't peep a word. Not once, through the whole process, did Shikamaru say a thing. It was becoming clear at this point that something was bothering him.

Bringing tea to the table for her guest, she sat back down in her seat and asked the black hair boy: "So what's up with you?"

"Just thoughtful today," he answered her quickly as if to get it over with.

Now it was Asuma's turned to be surprise. Those two had gotten considerably close recently and now the boy was giving her the cold shoulder. Deciding not to push the matter any further, Sora looked at her sensei and asked:

"Are we planning on meeting up for training soon? I know Ino's been busy with business at her family shop with her mother gone on vacation but I was thinking that it would still be nice to at least meet up."

"Good point," the man said between two bites. "How about we meet tomorrow at noon?" I'll check to see if Ino will be able to meet us. Usual training ground since we won't do anything fancy this time."

Everyone agreed silently. Soon enough, Choji finished the food he had.

"So, Sora. We actually came here to see if you weren't too busy. Did you want to hang out with us this afternoon?"

Thinking about the cleaning she had started to do while preparing lunch, the girl kindly declined.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass for today."

Beside her, Shikamaru sighed and got up.

"There, you got your answer Choji. Now let's go." And without waiting for a reply, he left the dining room.

Utterly confused, the girl looked at her teammate then at her sensei to realize that they were just as dumbfounded as her. Deciding that she should go see what's wrong with him after all, she got up and walked after Shikamaru. Walking outside, she found him with his back against her house, arms crossed, and looking at the sky. She took the time to close door for privacy then asked:

"Seriously, Shikamaru. What's wrong? Did I offend you by not accepting the offer to hang out with you?"

Still not looking at her, he said: "Of course not. You can hang out with whoever you want."

"But I'm not planning on seeing anyone else this afternoon…?"

He looked down and stared at her angrily. "Stop acting like that. Ino and I saw you this morning walking with this guy. So just stop hiding him."

She stared at him blankly for several seconds before realizing who he was referring to: Daichi.

"Hiding...? Good lord, Shikamaru, I ran into him this morning! Literally! I never met that guy before."

"Of course you didn't. You think, after all this time, I don't know how you act with people you have just met?"

"Wait, why do you care so much about him? Even better, why should I even explain myself to you in the first place?!"

If her happiness hadn't been completely killed with her earlier conversation with Asuma, it definitely was now. Before the boy could answer, the door opened beside them. They both turned to see Choji standing there, unsure if he should say something to help the two of them.

"Took you long enough. Let's go." Shikamaru told him.

Choji looked at his friend who started walking away and then at the girl, who stared at Shikamaru with crossed arms, hurt painted all over her face. He quickly asked her if she was okay, which she answered with a quick nod, and then ran after his friend.

Walking out of the house too, Asuma saw Sora watching the boys walking away. To his surprise, she tightened her grip on her arms and yelled:

"Just walk away like you always do, Shikamaru! Walk away like the coward you are!"

The sensei looked at the boy to see his reaction but either he didn't hear her or pretended not to. He then saw the girl wipe some tears in frustration and walked in the house in a hurry.

"Hey, where are you going? What happened with Shikamaru?"

Walking back out while tying her hair back into a short pony tail for the first time in what felt like ever, she said angrily: "I don't know what's his problem but I have some business to attend to."

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No," she answered quickly. Then before leaving, she said: "Thank you for your visit sensei and I'm sorry it turned out like this. I do however appreciate your concern..."

"As long as you understand that I'm always here then I'm content," he said with a smile which she returned weakly.

Watching her leave, Asuma stood there several minutes before leaving, trying to figure out what happened between Shikamaru and Sora whom seemed so happy together not too long ago.

* * *

><p>Putting the heavy pile of wood down, Daichi stood up and sighed. It was quite a beautiful day to work. He could also already imagine how great the school would look like once it was done. With a smile, he was about to turn around to get more wood when one of his coworkers shouted:<p>

"Hey Daichi! You got a visitor!"

Shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand, he spun around to see the one person that made him happier than anything else.

"Sora, you came! I was actually getting worried that you wouldn't come!" he told her with a wide smile.

"Sorry you felt this way but I'm here now!" she said with a bright smile now on her face.

"Does that mean...?"

"Yes, I will go on a date with you tonight," she answered quickly, as if afraid of changing her mind again.

"That's great! What am I saying? It's not great, it's marvellous! I won't let you down!"

His happiness made her laugh. At least, she had managed to make one person's day.

"I'll pick you up at six tonight, at your house, okay?"

"Where are we going?" she asked.

He winked at her. "That's a surprise, my darling!"

Giggling, Sora bid her goodbyes and left, almost running back to her house. On her way back, she slowed down to eventually stop where there was no one. She looked up at the sky and started to wonder if she did the right thing. She had been so hurt by Shikamaru's sudden change of behaviour that she also wanted to hurt him. Of course, the only thing she could come up with was accept the invitation to go on a date with the one guy that seemed to bother him the most.

Silently, she whipped a tear that had slowly started going down on her cheek. Through her own mixed feeling, little had she noticed Shikamaru's growing affection for her over the past few days...

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><p><strong>This is the end of this, holy geez, very long chapter! So, I realized that no one has really commented on whether I should keep this story a T or change it to an M later and include a lemon. However, I'm thinking of just doing a one-shot prequel at the end of this and rate it an M with a lemon. Again, if anyone wants to comment on this, feel free to do so!<strong>

**Share the love, write a review... few readers that you are... (seriously, I only had 15 people read the last chapter... I guess I'm expecting too much)**


	9. Dating

**Hi everyone. I wanted to thank you all for your kind words, your opinion, and your encouragements. To thank you all, I decided to do a double update this week, so enjoy!**

**Also thank you _Airheadninja _for what you said you're right. If I love this story the way I do than I should just keep writing it no matter what. Thank you for making me realize that!  
><strong>

**Additionally, I have changed this story's rating to an M. You all know what that means :)**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Naruto but I do well damn own this awesome story :D**

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><p>The date last night had been great. Although he had brought her to an exotic restaurant, which wasn't in her taste, he had treated her like the most precious thing in the world. He had almost managed to make her forget about her fight with Shikamaru. When he brought her back to her house last night, he had kissed her on the forehead when she admitted that she did not want to rush things. He had not reacted negatively.<p>

This morning, when she opened the door to leave for her training, she found Daichi standing in front of the door, with his fist up, about to knock.

"Oh, good morning! What are you doing here?"

"I was here to see how you were doing. Going somewhere?" he said with a bright smile.

"Yeah, I need to go to training today. My team is meeting up in about an hour."

"Great, I'll walk with you!"

She opened her mouth to say something but closed it without saying a word, knowing full well that when the boy put his mind to something, he wasn't going to take no as an answer. On their way to the usual training ground, Daichi asked Sora how much she loved last night. She, of course, told him with a big smile that it had been great as a first date. It was definitely something that she would never forget. Just before reaching their destination, he asked her if she wanted to go out with him tomorrow and after hesitating a few minutes, she finally accepted. He was about to tell her how happy he was when, from behind them, they heard:

"Well hello, handsome!"

Turning around, they both saw Ino walking behind them.

"Ah, Daichi. This is Ino. She's one of my teammates."

"Nice to meet you!" he said, stretching his hand in front of him.

"Oh, trust me. It's a pleasure to meet you too!" she said as she shook his hand, obviously flirting.

"Well, I need to head off to work darling," he told Sora. "See you at your place tomorrow at six?"

"Yeah, I'll wait for you then," the girl answered.

"Perfect, have a good day!" Daichi then leaned in and kissed her forehead just like he had done the night before.

While he was leaving, Ino started snickering as she looked at Sora who had turned a dark tone of red.

"Quite a guy you found there," the blonde girl told her friend.

"Yeah, he's really nice…" she answered as they walked in the training ground.

"I meant his physical silly! Anyways, Sakura is throwing a small girl party tonight. You need to come!"

Sora laughed lightly. "I'm guessing that you won't take 'no' as an answer?"

"You understood perfectly!" chimed Ino.

"Then, girl party it is tonight."

"Attagirl!"

As they got closer to their meeting spot, they noticed that everyone else was already there. Knowing that they were still out of hearing distance, Ino turned to Sora and asked:

"Are you going to be ok?"

"Huh?" Sora looked at her in confusion.

"I mean about Shikamaru. Choji told me that you two fought yesterday. Do I need to settle him back into his place?"

An expression of sadness washed over the black hair girl's face. As much as Ino could be annoying, as much as she could be a great friend. But Sora hadn't thought about Shikamaru yet today. She bit her lip.

"No… I'm hoping that a good night's sleep got him feeling better," she said, not too convinced.

And she was right not to be convinced. When the two girls met up with the team, Shikamaru didn't bother to greet her, even less look at her. Asuma scratched his head as he watched his team start doing the exercises he had given them. His team's dynamic was crumbling down. It was obvious that Choji and Ino didn't know how to act. Although the blonde seemed ready to defend the girl, both her and Shikamaru's best friend did not want to take any sides.

By the end of the training, the situation had not gotten any better. It did not help that Ino's curiosity had taken the best of the girl, who would ask tons of questions on Daichi. When they were done, Shikamaru seemed clearly irritated about being there and tried to leave without saying a thing but Choji was faster.

"Hey! Why don't we go eat lunch together? We deserve it!" he offered as an attempt to help the two.

"Yeah, great idea Choji," answered Asuma. "Lunch's on me since I'm leaving for a mission tonight!"

"Okay! I should have enough time before I need to go back to the flower shop!" cheered on Ino.

"No thanks. Go without me," said Shikamaru without offering any kind of excuse.

It made Sora feel horrible. She felt like it was her fault if the team was falling apart. As she took a step toward the boy, who was already leaving, Ino rested her hand on her shoulder. Looking at her blonde friend, she saw her shake her head in silence.

At the restaurant, Sora had lost her appetite. Playing with her food, she started regretting about taking the offer for last night's date. She did want to hurt Shikamaru but never thought about the consequences.

"Whatever's his problem, he'll get over it," said Choji seeing her not eating her plate.

"What is wrong with him, anyways?" asked Ino.

As they didn't know the answer, Asuma, Choji, and Ino looked at Sora, hoping she would. Seeing that the attention was all on her, she felt trapped and decided that there was no way of lying.

"All I know is that he doesn't like Daichi," she offered as an explanation.

"Daichi?" asked her sensei.

"Her new boyfriend!" explained Ino with a huge smile.

"Oh, you're going out with someone?" asked Choji.

Sora blushed seeing her team's enthusiastic reaction. She had not yet thought of Daichi as her boyfriend yet but she didn't know what they were either.

"Yeah, he asked me out yesterday and really insisted on me accepting…" she told the boy sitting in front of her.

The boy then grew thoughtful. He thought about Shikamaru's reaction to Sora's new boyfriend. Had they already met before? Was that the reason that his best friend was reacting like this? Ino, on the other hand, followed a different train of thoughts. Staring at the girl, she wondered if Shikamaru…

"Why the intense staring?" asked Sora who brought the two back to reality.

"Just thinking!" they both said at the same time.

Sora looked at both of them, feeling awkward. She had not thought that today's lunch would revolve around her. Deciding that it was time to change the subject, she decided to question her sensei about his new mission.

* * *

><p>The day zoomed by too fast. First thing Sora knew, Ino was already dragging her to Sakura's place. When the pink hair girl opened the door, Sora noticed all the people that were already there.<p>

"Ino… I thought you said that this was going to be a _small_ _girl_ party," Sora said, emphasizing the words "small girl", as she stared at her friend.

"Oh, did I? I must have forgotten to mention that Sakura changed her plans! Now let's go!"

"But I didn't…" started the pink hair girl but stopped when she realize that her best friend was already gone inside.

Sora stood unsure in the doorway. Seeing her hesitation, Sakura pushed her lightly inside while saying:

"This might not be a girl party but I did think about creating a girl only section." Sakura then pointed toward the room she was talking about.

Once inside, Sora looked nervously around. She could see a lot of her friends, including Choji, but not Shikamaru. She was about to ask her teammate if the one she feared was here but opted not to. She felt really stupid fearing her friend so much.

Walking around and greeting everyone eventually led her upstairs. As the party progressed, she felt more and more suffocated. Automatically she had aimed for the roof where she had the habit of taking some fresh air during parties. It was one of the few things that made her resist the urge of just running away. When she found the window she was looking for, she opened it up and sat on the edge. As she was about to flip her legs over, she froze. There, lying on the roof, was Shikamaru staring up at the now starry night. Sora slapped herself mentally. Of course, the one who had showed her a way out during parties was him.

"Roof is busy," the boy said without bothering to look at who was at the window.

"Really? Such a big roof all to yourself?" she asked mockingly.

The boy closed his eyes. He should have known it would be her.

"Are you really going to keep giving me the cold shoulder?" she had the courage to say.

He, once again, didn't answer. He had a lot of anger boiling inside him and was hoping that she would go away.

"Coward," she mumbled as she started heading back in as she could see clearly that this was going nowhere.

"Humph. I'm a coward because I'm angry?" he asked with his eyes now open, clearly insulted.

"No, you're a coward for not wanting to talk it out," she said staring back at him.

"Fine. Next time you lock yourself in your house, I won't bother to help."

"I never asked you to help!" she shouted.

"Yet, I did!"

"And what do you want from me?! To praise you? Shower you with gifts?! To act like no one else exists? Is that why you're so upset that I met Daichi? Because I'm not spending all my time with you?" she yelled out as tears started forming in the corner of her eyes.

Shikamaru didn't answer. Not because he didn't want to but because he didn't know what to say. He started to see what effect his jealousy was having on her and he didn't know what to do anymore. Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose trying to decide what to do. He didn't like hurting her. By the time he opened his eyes again, the girl was gone.

* * *

><p>Going down the stairs as fast as she could, Sora located the door but was stopped by someone.<p>

"Sora? Are you ok?" said Ino.

"No! I mean yes! But I need to go now," she answered in distress.

Putting both hands firmly on her shoulders, Ino looked into her eyes.

"You're not doing okay and being alone doesn't always help." She then took Sora by her right hand pulled her toward a room that Sakura had shown earlier. "Come on, you need some girl time. We'll make you feel better!"

"Ino.. I don't think..." started Sora but didn't finish as they were already at the room.

"Go in," Ino said, pushing her friend gently.

Walking inside the room, Sora found a very small group of girls consisting of Sakura, Hinata, and Ten Ten. Quietly, the girl sat down amongst them. Together, they started talking about anything and everything. They even started gossiping about others which eventually led Sora to giggle a bit at the crazy theories that the others would make around her. Eventually, the conversation died down slowly as they all started eating food Sakura had just gotten for them. After a while, Ino decided that she needed to check something.

"Sora?"

"Hm?" the girl answered with her mouth full.

"When did you meet Daichi?"

"Oh, just a couple of days ago. I literally ran into him."

"So... You didn't know him before then?"

"No..." carefully answered Sora, sensing that there was something Ino was trying to figure out.

As she had guessed, the blonde girl became thoughtful.

"What are you thinking?"

But her question was left unanswered as Ino suddenly bombarded her with more questions. "How was your date again last night?"

"It was nice?"

"Where did you go?"

"To that little exotic place near the grill restaurant we go to all the time."

"Did you like the food?"

"It was... okay."

"And he walked you back home?"

"Yes."

"What did you talk about?"

"Well, he talked about his work."

"Did he have an arm around you?"

"Yes."

"Did you like it?"

"Well it was awkward..."

"Did he kiss you?"

"Well on my forehead..." answered the girl, growing more and more uncomfortable and irritated.

"Why not on the lips?"

"Because I told him I wasn't feeling comfortable with how fast things were moving. Can we stop the interrogation?"

Ino smiled brightly. "No worries, I'm done! I'll be right back!" The girl then left the room.

Sora looked at Sakura but even she didn't understand her best friend's intention.

Outside the room, Ino looked through the crowd for Shikamaru but only found Choji.

"Where is Shikamaru?" she asked urgently.

"Uh, well he just left a few minutes ago but..."

Choji didn't finish seeing the girl had already run off. Outside Sakura's house, Ino dashed in the direction of the boy's house. Thankfully, a few minutes later, she located him right in front of his house.

"Shikamaru, wait up!"

The boy stopped. When he turned around to look at who called him out, the girl noticed how horrible he looked.

"I need to ask you something!"

"If it's about Sora, then forget it," he said already turning towards his house.

"Wait! It is but I'm just curious about something."

"What?" he asked clearly irritated.

"What kind of food does Sora like?"

"Simple food. Preferably homemade."

"And exotic?"

"No. Definitely hates it."

"And when you walk, what does she like to talk about?"

"Nothing. She prefers to enjoy her surrounding."

"Does she like to be touched?"

"Not really. She likes her independency."

"And when she says no or says she's not ready about something, does she like to be forced regardless?"

"No. She likes going to her own speed." The boy sighed. "Why are you bombarding me with all these questions?"

Ino's smile grew wide. "I know you like her," she bluntly declared.

She first saw a surprised expression on his face which quickly turned into a frown.

"Great. Now you can go gossip to Sakura and the others."

"Nah. Your secret's safe with me."

Shikamaru let out another sigh. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, just going to sabotage Sora's relationship," she said already thoughtful.

"No!" he almost shouted.

She looked at him in surprise.

"She doesn't know about how I feel and doesn't need to. If that guy makes her happy, then let him have her. She deserves to be happy..." he explained.

"Heh. Trust me, Shikamaru. He doesn't make her all that happy. Heck, from what I see, he doesn't even bother with making sure she likes what he's doing. Right now, they're both blind about it but they're relationship is already doomed."

Shikamaru scratched his head at the girl's logic.

"How can you know that?"

With a wide smile, Ino tapped her nose with a finger. "Instinct. And I have plenty of it."

"Don't do anything Ino, please."

"Sorry, it's for both her's and your own good!"

Helplessly, the boy watched his friend turn around and walk away. It was crystal clear that she was already planning something.

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><p><strong>And this is the end of this long chapter. Actually, hope you all like long chapters because I've come to realize that they are all generally very long!<strong>

**Share the love, write a review! Thank you all for reading!**


	10. Excluded

**Helloooooo everyone and happy late Easter to everyone who do celebrate this holiday! Due to Easter Monday, I'm a bit late in my schedule to post up the chapters for this story. Sorry!**

**Also, thank you as always for everyone's reviews. I simply love reading what everyone thinks and I have good news for those who are still following: due to how advance I am in this story, I will starting posting two chapters a week!**

**So enjoy! **

_**Disclaimer:**_** I don't own Naruto. It'd honestly be cool though!**

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><p>Stifling a yawn, Sora pushed open the flower shop's door. As soon as it opened, a little bell rang over her head and, like magic, Ino was instantly at the front desk waiting for her.<p>

"Good morning princess!" greeted Ino on a cheerful tone.

"Good morning to you too. Also, please don't call me princess, it sounds weird coming from you..." said Sora.

Ino laughed lightly. "Someone's grumpy this morning. Didn't sleep well last night?"

"No, that storm was pretty horrible. Guess it's that time of the year again. Anyways, what did you want to see me for?"

"Right! You're seeing Daichi tonight?" asked Ino while sitting down behind the front desk.

While leaning on the desk, Sora answered thoughtfully: "yeah, at six."

"Do you know where you're going?"

"Well, from what he told me this morning, another exotic place near the entrance of the village."

"Oh? Did you choose that?"

"No. He came up with the idea," answered the black hair girl before stifling another yawn.

Ino studied her friend's face. "I thought you didn't like exotic food."

Sora stared at her friend, trying to figure out when she would have shared such personal information about herself. Seeing how her teammate is THE gossip queen, the girl has learned not to share so much about herself. "How do you know that?"

"That's beside the point." the blonde girl brushed off. "If you don't like your date plans, you need to let the guy know! You don't have to let him decide on everything."

Sora scratched her head. "I know, I know. But it makes him so happy. I don't want to disappoint him."

As she answered her friends, the door's tiny bell was heard from behind her. Turning around, thinking it was a customer, Sora saw Shikamaru and Choji walking in. She turned to look at her friend and said:

"Talking about making people happy, looks like it's time for me to leave."

Ino nodded. "I'll swing by your place later when I'm done work."

"Sure."

Sora started walking to the door. As she walked by Shikamaru, the boy greeted her.

"Hey."

She looked at him briefly, trying to figure out what he was up to but then decided to not bother with it. She simply said while pushing the door:

"Nice to see that I'm finally worth talking to again."

And just like that she was gone. Shikamaru let out a sigh while scratching his head. Of course, she'd still be mad at him for last night.

"You just had to cut in when I got to the good part with her," said Ino pouting.

"I told you, I'm not letting you sabotage it," answered the boy.

"What are you two talking about? And why is Sora so mad at you?" asked Choji confused.

"Ino here wants to sabotage Sora's relationship."

"What? Why? She's so happy right now…" said the brown hair boy, unsure of what was happening.

"That's the thing, she's not. He's controlling and dominating. As soon as she's going to start speaking up for herself, things will turn ugly."

Choji looked at his friend, confused. Shikamaru shook his shoulder. "Trust me; all I see is that she's happy with him." The black hair boy then crossed his arm and stared at the girl. "Sabotaging her relationship is going to hurt her. You need to stay out of it."

"Make me," she responded and pulling her tongue out.

"I'm going to have to follow you everywhere, I guess. What a drag…"

"You won't be able to."

The door's tiny bell rang behind them.

"There you are, Shikamaru," said the man walking in.

"Hey dad," the boy answered.

"You've been requested at the Hokage's office. She's expecting you as soon as possible."

Shikamaru sighed and Ino giggled behind him.

"See? Told you that you can't keep an eye on me all the time!"

"I'll find something…" he mumbled walking out of the shop with his dad.

Choji, who was left behind, standing there thoughtful, worried, and confused. Ino, on the other hand, hurried back to her work so she could finish as soon as possible and go see Sora.

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><p>On the way to the Hokage's office, Shikamaru tried to elaborate a plan to keep Ino away from Sora. It worried him how much harm the blonde girl could cause. As he was about to reach his destination, he heard:<p>

"Out of techniques? Come and get new ones here!"

The boy stopped. Staring at the scroll merchant, he remembered that something had bothered Sora. While they were walking around on his birthday, she was about to tell him something about this man but was interrupted by Choji. The boy sighed. Resuming his walk to the Hokage's office, he decided that when things would be better with Sora, he'd ask her again.

Once inside the building, he lazily walked up the stairs until he reached the proper door. He then knocked and waited for an answer.

"Come in," said a woman voice.

He pushed the door open to find a blonde woman sitting behind her desk with her assistant, Shizune, standing behind her.

"You have requested my presence, lady Tsunade?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yes, yes. Come in!"

Once the boy was inside and the door closed behind him, Tsunade started her speech.

"You have been called here today for a rather simple mission: a C-rank mission. You will simply need to deliver a scroll to a feudal lord in the Tea country. There doesn't seem to be any danger expected. Do you have any questions?"

The boy started thinking. It was a bother that he was called on a mission when he wanted to keep an eye on his teammate so she won't sabotage his friend's relationship. _Wait. Teammate… _thought Shikamaru.

"Can we be only three on this mission?" he asked.

Tsunade thought about it for several minutes.

"Yes, do you have anyone in mind?" she finally accepted.

"Yes," started the boy. "For this mission, I want…"

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><p>A loud knock could be heard on Sora's door. In wonder, she went to open it knowing that it would not be Ino whose knocking was much much lighter. There, standing in front of her, was standing Shikamaru's dad.<p>

"Mr. Nara! Um, hi!" she said, unsure what to expect.

"Hi Sora. Sorry for unexpectedly dropping by. Were you busy?"

"No, no! Not at all, come in!" she said awkwardly.

Once they were inside, she led him to the dining room and offered him some tea which he politely refused. Sitting in front of him, she clumsily asked:

"So...why are you here, Mr. Nara?"

At this point, she was afraid that he was here to talk to her about Shikamaru's recent behaviour. Although she was mad at him, she still felt bad for acting the way she was with him. She was even afraid that someone would blame her for it.

"Ah, right. I'm here on Asuma's request. When he received his mission yesterday, he knew that he wouldn't be here to perform your family's ritual with you for your parents tomorrow."

Sora bit her lip. She had almost come to forget about tomorrow. She had been so wrapped up in everything recently that she didn't know what to do or think anymore. Shikamaru's dad continued:

"If you accept, of course, it would be an honour for me to learn more about your family's ritual to honour the dead. I have read about it here and there but have never fully understood it."

"Oh… um, of course. It would be an honour for me also to have you help me…" she answered, still feeling awkward.

"I would have, of course, asked if Shikamaru was interested but it seems that duty called."

"Oh?" replied Sora. It seemed like friend's dad did not know about their fight.

"Yeah, he was called this morning to the Hokage's office."

"Um…" the girl twisted her fingers together uncomfortably. She felt bad to have him help her with the ritual without knowing about her fight with his son. She took a deep breath. "Mr. Nara… Shikamaru and I are… currently having our differences on something and our exchanges have not been very friendly recently. So, if you did not want to help me tomorrow because of this, I would fully understand."

She looked down at her hands, afraid of the man's reaction. However, his reaction was quite the opposite. With a loud laugh, he said:

"Well! That's why you seemed so uncomfortable with me! I should be the one asking you if you are comfortable with my presence."

Surprised by his reaction, she just blankly stared at him.

"Beside, Sora, I was good friends with your parents, more specifically your mother. I think it would make me some good to pay my respects, but that is only if you are comfortable with having me around!"

"So, you are not angry with Shikamaru and me fighting?" she asked still surprised.

"Haha, of course not!"

She smiled. Already, she felt a lot better. Their conversation was, however, interrupted by another loud knock on her door.

"Gee. I really am popular today," she mumbled, getting up.

"No worries, I was about to leave," the man said, also getting up.

While Shikamaru's dad was putting on his shoes, she opened the door to find Daichi.

"Oh, hi Daichi!" she said while looking up at a clock near here.

"Hi, darling. Sorry, I'm early but I couldn't wait to see you again!" he said with a big smile and kissed her on the forehead, making her feel rather uncomfortable.

The man behind Sora looked at them curiously. Daichi, looking up, finally noticed his presence.

"I'm sorry! Was I interrupting you?" he asked the girl.

Without answering, she turned and looked at the man who quickly replied:

"No! I was just about to leave actually but it's nice meeting you," he said getting up and walking closer. Stretching his hand in front of him, he added: "Shikaku Nara."

"Daichi Riku. A pleasure to meet you also."

The man first held the boy's hand, studying his face. Then, as if he had finished reading him like an open book, he let go and turned to Sora before saying: "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes, around two or three in the afternoon! Whichever one is better for you!"

"Three o'clock it is! Bye."

And with a last wave, the man left. At first, the other two stood there awkwardly in the doorway. Finally, realizing that they should maybe go inside, they walked in and the girl closed the door behind them.

"Nara? Like your teammate?" asked the boy.

"Yeah…" answered the girl, still feeling awkward from the fact that Shikamaru's dad had met her boyfriend.

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><p>An hour later, while they were walking toward that exotic restaurant, where Daichi had made a reservation, the boy was holding Sora around the waist. She had refused at first but the boy had insisted so much that she finally gave in. Furthermore, he kept talking about how fast his team's work was progressing and how amazing the school would look like. In silence, the girl simply nodded once in a while as she distractedly looked around.<p>

As they reached the entrance of the village where the restaurant was, Sora noticed someone standing, with a bag packed, and waiting.

"Ino?" called out Sora as she got away from Daichi's grasp and walked toward the girl.

"Sora! I'm sorry I didn't come after all! I was busy packing up for a mission!"

"A mission?" she asked.

Before Ino could answer, another voice was heard behind them.

"Ah, Sora…" said Choji uncomfortably as he walked close.

"Choji? You're leaving on a mission too?"

The boy hesitated but then answered: "Yes…"

Ino started understanding Choji's discomfort as she started reflecting his expression. Sora looked from the girl to the boy.

"Wait. Who's your team leader?"

They looked at each other then looked down before answering at the same time: "Shikamaru."

Sora started to understand the situation. Her hands clenched into fists by her sides. Behind her, Daichi wrapped his arm around Sora's waist, not knowing what was going on nor that it was the wrong moment to impose his presence on the black hair girl.

"Let me get this right," she said, her voice filled with anger. "Shikamaru was called for a mission and asked to only get you two as his teammates. Am I right?"

The two were really uncomfortable and silently looked away. There was Sora's answer.

"Glad to see how much of a team we make!" she spat out as she got out of her boyfriend's grasp and turned around.

But she froze on the spot when she saw Shikamaru walking their way, also with a bag on his back. A sense of discomfort could be felt emanating from the boy when he noticed her. Without giving him a chance to explain himself, she walked up angrily and with both hands pushed him backward.

"Shikamaru Nara! This time you have gone too far! I can't believe you purposely excluded from a mission!"

"Sora, I…"

"Shut up! I won't ever forgive you Shikamaru! Ever!" she shouted out.

She then ran off. Standing there awkwardly, Daichi stared in funny way at the boy that had made Sora run off and then ran after her, although much slower.

"You never told me that she wasn't coming, Shikamaru… I feel like an idiot now!" Ino told her friend.

"I didn't think it was necessary…" he tried to explain.

"Not necessary? Do you even know how she feels right now?"

"She's right, Shikamaru… We're supposed to be a team no matter what," said Choji.

"I know and I'll have a lot of explaining to do to her but first, let's go."

Together, they slowly walked out of the village. This was probably the first time they had a mission and were feeling depressed while leaving Konoha.

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><p>Thankfully for Daichi, the girl had simply run off to the restaurant where they were supposed to go to. Although she was clearly upset, Sora still made the effort to enjoy her evening and that was enough for the boy. Tonight, however, he had seen a side of the girl that he had never seen before. He also felt unsure about what was happening between Sora and Shikamaru. When she had yelled at him and ran off, Daichi had noticed on Shikamaru's face a sense of despair and pain. The thought angered him, automatically assuming that there could be more going on between the two of them. Right there and then, the boy swore that he would not Sora lose to him.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Here you go guys! Thank you for reading this far.<strong>

**Share the love, write a review!**

**Enjoy the double updates!**


	11. The ritual

**Hi everyone! Just a reminder that I'm now doing double updates, so enjoy!**

**Also, I'm glad I'm doing double updates seeing how this chapter is actually small. It's there really to give everyone a break about all the drama and I'd actually understand if some people skip over it. Still, I do certainly hope you like it all since it actually made me smile :)**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Naruto although there's not much Naruto reference in this chapter.**

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><p>Although Daichi had tried to reassure the girl through various ways, including speaking ill of Shikamaru, Sora did not feel better. Even after a night of sleep, which had not been so good due to the storm that had reappeared that night, Sora still felt horrible and abandoned. She also felt unsure about her situation with her boyfriend. Last night, he had forcefully kissed her on the mouth even though he had promised to go slow. He even seemed upset when she hadn't returned her kiss.<p>

But today, she wanted to avoid thinking about all her problems. Today, was the day her parents died six years ago and she was going to honour them through the ritual her mother had shown her when she was younger. It was one of the few family secrets that her mother had managed to pass on to her before she passed away. Sora first took a long shower, vigorously rubbing her skin with the soap bar, as if she could wash away everything that was bothering her. Once she was finished, she went to her room and took out a sky blue dress. This was one of the very rare occasions that she could be seen wearing a dress. It was so rare that when, at three o'clock, Shikamaru's dad arrived, he couldn't hide his surprise.

"I know what you are thinking," she greeted him with a small smile.

"The dress?" he asked.

"Yeah, my mother loved seeing me in a dress," she answered.

Nodding in understanding, he silently walked in. As he was about to take his shoes off, Sora stopped him.

"You don't need to; the ritual will be done outside. We're actually going to head there now."

After the girl had picked up a small bag filled with various things, they headed outside. From there, she guided him into the forest behind her house. It took almost 15 minutes before they arrived at a stone in the middle of a clearing.

Sora opened the bag and first took out a small broom and brushed away the leaves from the gravestone then from all around it. After she was satisfied with her job, she took out several colorful candles and placed them around the clearing, giving it a sense of sacredness when lighting them. All during the preparation, Shikaku stood there impressed by the details. When Sora finally finished placing different kind of flowers around the gravestone, she took out the last things in her bag: two white candles. Putting one in the man's hands and lighting it, she explained:

"Here, we honor two persons: my parents. Thus, we need two candles. We will stand in front of the grave in silence. We will send our thoughts to them. Our goal is to show them that we are at peace so they don't need to worry about us. Once we will be finished, I will chant for them so they can continue to rest peacefully. Is there something you would like me to explain?"

The man shook his head in silence. He didn't feel the need to talk here as it seems like anything and everything that he would do was understood by the young girl. She then smiled lightly.

"Again, try mostly sending positive thoughts. We don't want to worry them."

He nodded in silence again, holding carefully the candle and protecting the flame from the aggressive wind. Although a storm was hanging over their head, the clearing seemed protected. Surprisingly, the colored candles all around them hadn't extinguished. In fact, the fire very calmly burned in their spots.

Following Sora's lead, he stood in front of the gravestone, presenting his candle. Silently, they stood there, with their eyes closed, sending their thoughts. Calmly, Shikaku thought about the good times he spent with his friend.

Sora, on the other hand, was struggling a bit. In her mind, she imagined herself standing there alone and quietly. Although she was to send positive thoughts, her head would only travel back to all her current problems. Above all, the feelings of being abandoned and loneliness primed it all. Around her, a storm of emotions was swirling around her. She tried to create a spark of positiveness but it would be extinguished immediately by the other emotions.

Realizing that she couldn't do it, a tear spilled from her eye, both in her mind and in reality. This was one of the few times where she wished that Asuma was here. He would be able to help her clear her mind. Taking a deep breath, she tried again. Still in her mind, she began creating bigger positive sparks, each swept away immediately. The uncontrollable winds gradually grew to a giant storm with violent emotions which terrified her more and more.

As she was about to give up, the wind calmed down on its own. Looking for the source of the calming feeling that she suddenly felt, she saw a silhouette in front of her. She concentrated on it but without any light, she couldn't see who it was. She then had an idea. With her hands, she created more positive sparks. Putting every ounce of positive energy in it, she saw her sparks become beautiful colorful dragonflies. Like a mist, it flew around them. There, in front of her, Sora saw her mother. The woman walked forth and took her daughter in an embraced. Love washed through the girl's body. Silently, the mother whispered:

"Be brave. Everything will be okay."

With a loud gasp, Sora opened her eyes and looked at the gravestone in front of her. She could not explain it but she knew that the woman in her mind was really her mother. She really had come to help her. Noticing Shikamaru's dad looking at her in worry, she smiled the brightest smile she had done in a while. All her worries had been washed away.

Followed closely by Shikaku, she put down her candle in front of the grave. Once both candles were on the ground, Sora started humming a song. Softly, very softly, she continued, rocked by the wind. Around them, they could hear a buzzing sound. While the girl kept humming, the man looked around to locate the sound. Out of the blue, hundreds of dragonflies, of all kinds of colors, flew into the clearing. The sight was amazing.

Sora laughed lightly with happiness as the dragonflies tickled her. She knew, deep down, that her ancestors were smiling upon her. Here, in the middle of the clearing, she was separated from the world. As if there was music, the girl started dancing with her family's friends. This ritual was by far one of the most amazing thing Shikamaru's dad had ever experienced. Although there was no contract signed, these dragonflies shared a link with the Tonbo family. After this, there was no more doubt in his mind about it.

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><p>When they returned to her house, Shikoku softly thanked the girl:<p>

"I greatly appreciated that you have shared such a moment. I had heard many tales about how great the ritual was but this have definitely exceeded any of my expectations."

Sora bowed. "And thank you for keeping me company today. Although it is a sad day, this ritual helps me get through it."

The girl turned around and opened her door. As she walked in, Shikamaru's dad called her out.

"Sora."

"Yes?" she answered while turning to look at the man.

"I wanted to apologize."

Sora gave the man a confusing look.

"I heard about what Shikamaru did and I am very not happy with it. I will talk to him when he gets back," he explained.

The girl's stare softened. "There's no need to. I... have been acting pretty silly recently and I may have finally pushed him overboard."

The man crossed his arms and started thinking.

"How are things going with this Daichi guy?" he asked.

Sora giggled as she never thought that the man would be the kind to ask these kinds of questions.

"I think it's going fine."

The man smiled. "You think?"

"Well, yes. I'm not very sure what to expect so I can't really say," she answered while scratching her head.

Now, it was the man's turn to laugh.

"Want a tip?" he offered.

"Um... sure?" she replied awkwardly.

The man tapped his chest while saying: "Go with your heart."

And with that the man left, leaving the girl to think on her own.

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><p><strong>And here you go! Next update will be monday (tuesday if something extreme happens). Thanks for reading this far!<strong>

**Share the love, write a review? **


	12. A mission!

**Hi everyone. I apologize if no one like the previous chapter but we're back to the good stuff now. Thanks for your patience.**

**I uh don't have any review mentions to put here since there wasn't any... but thanks for all of those who still read it!**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I still don't own Naruto**

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><p>Several days have passed since the ritual. Sora was honestly getting bored on top of being tired from her lack of sleep due to waking up all the time by the several storms that passed during this time of the year. Stifling another yawn, Sora couldn't stop thinking about how she couldn't wait for the storms to end. They may not have caused any damages to her house, thankfully, but they were still quite loud and scary.<p>

During the several days, as she had nothing to do since all her close friends were gone on missions, she had either walked around helplessly or visited Daichi at his work to see the progress they were making. Tonight was also another night where Daichi had planned on going out together. Although she liked very much the boy, she wasn't very excited about tonight. The plans, as per usual, were to go out to eat exotic food. Again. Sora had taken Ino's suggestion into account. She had asked him if he'd rather go do something else but he had brushed off the idea quickly, as he did not feel like it.

While she was sitting from a distance, watching the construction team progressing with the school building, she was suddenly surprised by a light tap on her shoulder. Looking over her shoulder, she was surprised to see Shikamaru's dad smiling.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Nara!"

"Hi, Sora. I'm here because we need to go to the Hokage's office."

"Okay!" she gleefully replied and getting up quickly.

She knew what this meant: a mission! Before leaving, she remembered to turn around and wave at her boyfriend, but he completely ignored her. He was too busy with his work. Seeing this, Shikaku arched an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

As soon as they arrived at the Hokage's building, they ran up the set of stairs and knocked on the proper door. Sora had a hard time holding into place. She had been so bored these last few days that a mission made her happier than usual. Once inside, the man and the girl stood side by side in front of Tsunade.

"Good, you are here. Sora, I have called you here because I have given Shikaku a mission and he has elected you as one of his teammates," the Homage announced.

Sora looked at the man in surprised, whom in returned simply smiled.

"Your mission should be simple as it is more of a rescue mission. A few days ago, Shikamaru's team were sent on a mission to deliver a scroll in the Tea country. However, a violent storm has ravaged in the town they needed to go to at around the same time they should have arrived there. We have reasons to believe that this would be the cause of the extra time they are taking before coming back. Your team will simply need to bring them back safely. Since they are your usual teammates, Shikaku has requested that you should be on the team. I have proposed that Sakura accompanies you because of her medical jutsu."

"We now only need one more person to join us in order to complete our team," completed the man while looking at Sora. "Any suggestions?"

As she was about to open her mouth to say no, a light knock was heard on the door behind them. When Shizune opened the door, they saw Kakashi, Asuma, Gai and Kurenai waiting for permission to come in.

"Asuma-sensei!" Sora told Shikamaru's dad.

The man laughed and looked at Asuma who had a confused expression.

"Hope you are ready to leave on another mission!" he told him.

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><p>After explaining the situation to Asuma, Sora had run back to her house to pack up. At the front door, she took her keys out and while inserting the right one in the lock, she swore under her breath. She had yet again forgotten to lock her door but she was too excited to let that ruin her mood. Inside, she quickly grabbed a bag and filled it with essentials for the trip. Once she made sure that she had everything, she ran outside, carefully locking the door, which she was incredibly proud of herself for, and ran. She had to make a quick detour before heading off.<p>

At the school's construction site, Sora went to see directly Daichi.

"Sora! Why are you all packed up?" he asked, looking at her backpack.

"Duty calls. I need to go on a mission to find my missing teammates so we need to put off tonight's date," she quickly explained, trying to make this short.

Daichi's expression grew dark.

"Do you have to go?" he asked.

"Well, yes," she answered, confused by his reaction.

"They abandoned you," he reminded her.

She felt her stomach clench. She had tried so hard to forget about how they left without her that having it brought back to her face was painful.

"Yes... but this is a mission and I can't refuse it."

Daichi snorted. "Well, have fun rescuing those who are simply going to abandon you again."

And without a goodbye, he had walked away to continue his work. Sora stood there surprised for several seconds. She had never seen Daichi react like this but maybe he had a point. Feeling awkward, she finally left. No matter how she felt, a mission was a mission.

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><p>They're trip to the Tea country was, well, wet. Soon after they had crossed the border, torrents of rain had come to greet them. Unfortunately, no one had thought about bring any kind of accessory or clothing to help them face this. Trying to think about how there should always be a good side to everything, Sora was thankful that there wasn't any thunder and lightning.<p>

Although they were mostly silent as they still tried to go as fast as they could in this weather, Asuma still eventually asked the one question Sora feared the most:

"So if they're gone on a mission, why weren't you gone with them?"

"Um...well..." started Sora awkwardly. After how she had felt betrayed, she still somehow didn't have the will to put them in trouble. "I don't know..."

Asuma sighed. "The advantage of having four students was to have you work as a team. Did you request not to go?"

"No!" shouted out Sora.

"My son requested to have only a team of three," spoke up Shikaku.

Disappointment could be clearly seen on Asuma's face. In just a few weeks, his team's dynamic had really crumbled down.

"Um, Asuma-sensei? I don't mean to put all the blame on Shikamaru but... Ino didn't know ahead of time that Sora would be excluded from their mission," Sakura defended her best friend.

But the man didn't answer.

On the way to their destination, the team had to stop for one night. They had managed to do over half of the distance but, at this point, everyone was getting tired. After finding a spot, they put up two big tents, one for the girls, one of the guys. They also tried to make a fire but in this kind of temperature, there was no hope of conserving one.

The temperature was also getting to everyone. As much as everyone had started the trip with an overly good mood, as much as now, barely anyone would talk because of how miserable they were under this rain.

When everyone seemed to have retreated to their tents, Sora told Sakura that she just needed to go for a small walk. Walking around their campsite, trying not to lose the tents from her view, she was surprised to find a lake. With all this torrent of rain, no one in the team seemed to have noticed it. She sat down beside it and looked at the beauty of the rain meeting the water of the lac. It almost seemed like the lac was dancing with happiness.

Dazed by the sight, she hadn't notice the presence that was suddenly beside her.

"Sora?"

She jumped. Looking up, she found her sensei standing there, looking at her funny.

"Aren't you wet, sitting there?"

"Aren't we all already soaking wet?" she replied.

The man chuckled. "You're right."

They gazed off in the distance for a few minutes before starting a conversation again.

"So, I heard from Shikaku that your ritual went well?"

"Well..." she said hesitant. "I actually had a hard time. I couldn't clear up my mind properly but, at the end, something different happened."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there this year. Also, what do you mean by different?" asked the man curious.

"In my mind, I couldn't calm down my emotions. At least until someone helped me. I'm almost certain that it was my mother. She told me that everything would be fine."

She then stopped, remembering why her mother would have told her that. Thinking about Shikamaru worried her. She wasn't sure how she was going to act when she would see him. She was still extremely upset about what he did.

Seeing her expression change, he asked: "What happened while I was gone?"

She bit her lip. "I... acted very stupidly and I think Shikamaru got sick of it."

"And what would that be?" encouraged the man.

"Well, I think he was expecting something from me for helping me feel better when I had locked myself in my house."

"Why would you think that?" he asked now very curious.

The girl sighed. "We got into another fight after you left for your mission and this time he brought up how he helped me out of my house. I got angry that he would expect something in return and walked off. Ever since then, I haven't been talking to him, which eventually led to him leaving me out on a mission…"

The man finally sat down beside her and stared at the lake like she did. He reviewed in his mind carefully what the girl had just told him. With a smile, he asked:

"Do you want to know what I think?"

"Sure?" replied the girl curiously, finally looking away from the lake.

"I've always known Shikamaru as a smart person. Sometimes, a tad too smart, don't you think?"

She simply nodded in approval.

"Well, it looks like there is something missing in our information hence why we don't understand why he's acting like he is right now."

The girl kept looking at the man. She then said with hesitation:

"So… you're saying that he planned it this way for another reason? Excluding me from the mission, I mean."

"That's what I think."

This conclusion made the girl feel a bit more lighthearted despite the weather. After a few more minutes of silence, she said:

"I guess I'll probably end up breaking my promise of never forgiving him if you're right."

The man chuckled.

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><p><strong>This was still kind of a short chapter but at least we're back to the good stuff!<strong>

**Thanks for reading!**

**Share the love, write a review!**


	13. Explanations

**Hi everyone! I'm glad I actually managed to post this chapter. It's so busy at work today!**

**Also, thanks _Airheadninja_ for your lovely review. I'm glad to know that you're still reading and I know how you feel. I just came out of university exams myself!**

**Anywho, enjoy everyone!**

_**Disclaimer:**_** I don't own Naruto.**

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><p>"Aaaaand ladies and gentlemen, here we are!" announced Asuma as they set foot in the village they had to go to.<p>

"What happened here?" asked Sakura as she looked at the various damaged buildings.

"Was this really all caused by a storm?" said Sora dumbfounded.

"Sure looks like it," said Shikaku.

Walking further in the village, they could see the villagers trying to repair the damages that had been caused by the storm. There were also a lot of people walking around with bandages or limping around. The storm had really been violent here.

As Sora opened her mouth to ask where her teammates could be, she heard from behind them:

"Sora? Sensei? Mr. Nara?"

Turning around, they saw Choji standing there with a huge pile of wood in his arms.

"Choji!" shouted out Sora as she ran up to her friend.

"Wow, even Sakura came. Did something happen?"

"Of course! You guys were taking awfully a lot of time to come back so we were sent out to find you!" explained the black hair girl.

"Oh…" was the boy's only response. Now that Sora was looking at him carefully, he really seemed exhausted.

"Where are the others?" asked Asuma as he walked closer.

"They are in the main shelter treating the sick and injured. I was actually just about to bring back this wood to make a fire," explained the boy.

Following Choji's lead, they walked in a specific direction.

"Are there a lot of injured?" asked Sakura worried.

"Yeah. Like you can see, the storm destroyed nearly the whole village. Thankfully, the feudal lord was kind enough to turn one of his buildings that have survived the storm into a shelter."

"Then I can probably help these people!" said encouragingly the pink hair girl which made Choji smile.

"Is that why you didn't come back right away? To help these people?" asked Sora.

Choji nodded.

"I was so worried that something worse could have happened. Thankfully, you are all okay," she added with a smile.

When they reached a huge building, Choji pushed the door open.

"Finally! Took you long enough Choji!" shouted out a voice which everyone recognized as Ino's.

"Well, you see. I found some help on the way here," he explained.

Opening the door wider, he showed her the four new arrivals.

"No way!" the blonde girl shouted.

She ran up to Sora and Sakura, wrapped her arms around them and hugged them.

"You can't believe how happy I am to see you all!" she said backing up. "Oh, Sora. I'm so sorry you were left behind. If I would have known…"

"Don't worry about it, Ino. From what I can see, you have a bigger situation to worry about," cutt in Sora with a smile.

Her friend looked at her curiously. The black hair girl looked much happier than when they had left.

"So, that's what you have been doing, eh?" asked Shikaku, looking around.

"Mr. Nara! Um, yes. We felt like we really needed to help them."

"Then we'll help too!" said Sakura as she was already off studying the damages.

"Where's Shikamaru?" asked Asuma.

"He should be in the back, sensei. I'd really be surprised if he wasn't."

"What do you mean?" asked Sora.

"He broke his left leg while trying to help a family out of a crumbling house. The roof fell down on him, but thankfully, only his leg was injured," Ino explained.

Sora swallowed hard. She was facing conflicting feelings. She was worried sick for the boy but at the same time she was still hesitant about going to see him. She then felt a hand on her shoulder.

"How about we go look at how he is?" Asuma offered softly.

She hesitated for a few second but then nodded. Seeing her approval, Ino smiled and led them to the back of the building. Just as she turned a corner, she shouted gleefully:

"You have visitors!"

"If it's the family again then they'll have to excuse me but I have gotten enough gratitude already," said a miserable voice.

"Well, aren't you grumpy!" said Asuma walking forth.

"Sensei!" Shikamaru said while trying to get up but fell back down when a shot of pain went through his leg. "What a bother," he added with a frown. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was sent out to find you three obviously. I'm here with your dad, Sakura, and…" he told him while turning his head toward Sora who was still nervously standing just before the corner.

Hesitantly, she walked forth. As soon as he saw her, he looked down sadly to avoid her stare, all while adding: "Oh." His reaction was hurtful. She looked at him in hope that he would look back up and make eye contact but soon realized that it wouldn't happen any time soon. She turned around to leave, as this was too painful for her, but just then, Sakura showed up, blocking her path.

"Heard Shikamaru was injured too, so I came to help him get back on his feet!" announced Sakura with a smile.

With a weak smile, the black hair girl backed up to the group to let the medic ninja walk in. Taking advantage of this situation, Asuma walked around the girl and stood in front of the only exit. With one look, she knew that he wasn't about to let her out. Together, with Ino, they watched Sakura perform her jutsus and after a few minutes she announced:

"There, your leg isn't broken anymore but you will need to walk with some support until the pain goes away and you're able to walk around properly again."

The boy thanked her. The medic's declaration made both Ino and Asuma share a look which made them smile. They both had the same idea.

"You know, seeing how you'll need some fresh air and how you'll need someone to look over you, you'll be better off with someone supporting you," started Ino.

"Now that I think about it, Sora is a tad shorter than Shikamaru," continued Asuma.

Sora's eyes widen. She knew exactly where those two were going and so did Shikamaru. Both of them looked at the two speakers and said at the exact same time:

"No!"

"We're not giving you a choice here," said the sensei.

With her hands on her hips, Ino added: "You two really have been ruining the mood in our team."

Sakura who had followed their train of thought and said with a knowing smile:

"Some time together will help you solve your differences! It's perfect!"

Shikamaru let out a frustrated sigh while Sora covered her face with her right hand. There was really no getting out of this.

* * *

><p>And so, with his arm resting around her neck, Shikamaru was slowly walking around with Sora's help. It was both funny and sad to watch them. While they looked very uncomfortable being so close to each other, they weren't talking either. Neither of them had said a word ever since they walked out of the shelter together. It was really surprising how they had managed to walk together without communicating their intentions. It was really interesting.<p>

Through the village, Sora noticed a lot of villagers smiling and waving at Shikamaru. It was obvious how thankful they were for the ninjas' help ever since the storm happened. After evaluating all the damage and the progress of the repair, they ended up at the edge of the town. That was when their lack of communication finally caught up to them. While Shikamaru had been hoping to go left, Sora was heading right where she could see a park. Too curious about the untouched place, she did not notice Shikamaru's struggle. When the boy eventually fell down, she looked perplexedly down at him.

Afraid of starting another fight, she kneeled down without really making eye contact or saying a word, and took his arm to put it around her neck. However, she failed at getting back up with him as they couldn't synchronize their efforts.

"Wouldn't it be better if we counted to three?" he finally had the courage to say.

"If that's what you want," she mumbled.

They then counted together and at three they combined their efforts to successfully get up. She then stood there waiting to see where he wanted to go, realizing that supporting him meant going in the direction he wanted. Shikamaru stared thoughtfully at the girl.

"Did you want to go see the park?"

She bit her lip. "If you want to," she finally managed to say.

He smiled lightly but, looking away, Sora didn't see it. When Shikamaru took a step toward the park, she started moving in the same direction. Once they were there, Shikamaru pointed at a bench which the girl headed for. As they sat down, Sora took the time to sit at a certain distance from the boy. Carefully, she looked in another direction. Shikamaru rubbed his neck uncomfortably.

"You know, I appreciate your help. I know you're not really a fan of close contact," he told her, deciding that maybe they could talk their problems out.

Truth was that Shikamaru had really missed the girl and the good times they used to have together. But the only response he got was a nod of acknowledgement. He sighed.

"If there's something you want to see in the village, just let me know. We can try to slowly head there," he tried again.

Although looking away, Sora finally answered. "I don't want to see anything. As long as I can get you around then I'm happy."

Shikamaru kept staring at the girl. Here, without anyone pressuring them, he wanted to try to fix things.

"You don't look happy…" he commented.

"How can you know?" she asked.

"After all the years I've known you, I should know," he said jokingly but the girl didn't respond. He started thinking and tried again: "I'm sorry for the way I've been acting."

The girl couldn't take it anymore. She got up and, with her arms crossed, she took a few steps away while taking deep breaths. All during this, Shikamaru waited patiently. He understood now all the pain he had inflicted her with and was willing to wait no matter how long it would take to fix things.

"Why did you exclude me from the mission? Do you not consider me a part of the team anymore?" she finally asked with her back still toward the boy.

"It was to protect you," he tried to explain.

"I can defend myself pretty well, if you ask me. But wait, you didn't."

"I know that, you wouldn't be a chuunin if you couldn't," Shikamaru answered with an as-a-matter-of-fact expression.

Sora turned around and studied the boy's expression. She didn't follow his logic. Shikamaru, still holding her stare, wondered if she would believe him if he told her the truth. Deciding that he had nothing more to lose, he continued.

"But Ino is pretty hard to fend off when she puts her mind into something."

Now, she was really lost. Protect her from Ino? _What the hell?!_ was literally her only thought. She frowned, clearly not understanding.

"Tell me, how has it been going with Daichi?" he tried to explain.

Automatically, Sora was on the defence. "If you want to get mad at me again for finding someone who likes me then I'm just going to walk away and let you crawl back on your own."

Not expecting this, he made himself more comfortable on his bench, thinking about how he could explain this.

"I promise I won't overreact this time. I simply want to know," he said sincerely.

"It's been...okay," she answered hesitantly.

Shikamaru blinked in surprise. Was that guy not making her happy? Could it be that Ino was right after all?

"Well, Ino had this theory about you two…" he started.

Her hands going down to her hips, Sora leaned her head on one side while looking at her friend. She had a sickening feeling that she knew where he was going with this.

"She says that she's sure that you two won't last for very long. Apparently, he doesn't really bother to make sure that you're fully happy with his decisions."

_Uh oh_, thought Sora. Was that why Ino had absolutely wanted to talk to her before she left?

"So she was planning on ruining your relationship," continued the boy hesitantly. He was trying to predict what her reaction would be but had no idea.

"That Ino pig," spat out angrily Sora, using one of the many expressions that Sakura would have normally used to insult her friend. "I can't believe she would do that!"

"And that's why I asked to be only three for this mission and brought her with me," the boy cut in.

Sora froze, her eyes widening. She studied the boy's expression and could only see sincerity.

"You mean that you…" she started. She then thought back about their couple fights and asked: "then why…?"

"I acted the way I did?" he finished for her. He suddenly looked uncomfortable, not quite ready to share his feelings yet. "Let's just say that I was just acting stupid and Ino didn't help. I'm sincerely sorry for that. Will you accept my apologies?" he asked looking at her awkwardly.

She stood there thinking for a few seconds. Out of all the theories she had created on why Shikamaru was acting this way, she had never thought about this one, including Ino in the picture even less. Now that she thought back, Ino was acting a bit over friendly with her. She finally sighed.

"Apology accepted."

Shikamaru smiled, relief washing over his face. Sora went to sit back down beside him.

"I guess I need to apologize too," she said.

"Don't. It was perfectly understandable to me. Except, maybe, calling me a coward," he said jokingly.

His joke, however, made her feel horrible. She knew that he hated, above all, being called that. Seeing her expression, he rested his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, I'm joking."

"I'm still sorry," she said twirling her fingers together nervously.

"How about we try to act like we've always been good friends, like before?" he offered.

She smiled at the thought. She did horribly miss hanging out and talking to her friend like she used to.

"Deal!" she giggled.

* * *

><p>"Well, would you look at that?" Shikaku said from the doorway of the shelter, looking outside.<p>

The others walked to the entrance to see what the man saw. There, coming back toward them, Shikamaru and Sora were walking back together in silence, with a smile painted on their face.

"Finally!" sighed Asuma.

"I knew they would work it out!" Ino told everyone happily.

When the two arrived, Choji asked hesitantly:

"So… are you two okay now?"

Sora smiled. "Yeah." She then looked angrily at Ino before adding, "but as for you…"

"Uh oh…" the blonde girl mumbled knowing full well that her teammate must have known about her plan now. "I'm sorry! Trust me, I am! But I swear that my theory's right! I was just trying to limit the damage!" she tried to explain.

"I'm just glad that Shikamaru stopped you before," Sora simply said.

Truth was that the black hair girl was so used to her teammate's way of acting that it didn't surprise or even upset her all that much anymore. After nodding to Shikamaru, they both continued to walk in to settle the boy down in a comfortable spot. Behind them, everyone smiled at the sight of those two being together again.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's it. So honestly, I'm already thinking of some great idea for a second story which would be a sequel to this one. It be quite dark but it'd be really great I think. Anyone has any opinionsuggestions?**

**Share the love, write a review!**


	14. Going too far

**Hey guys, rough week this week but I still managed to do the double update!**

**Thank you to both _lovinurbuks_ and _Airheadninja _for your reviews. As I always, I really appreciated! And yeah, I'll gladly wait to see your opinion for about a sequel, _Airheadninja_ :)**

_**Disclaimer:**_** I don't own Naruto.**

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><p>The two teams spent about another week in the village in order to help the villagers as much as they could and to wait until Shikamaru could walk properly. During the whole process, Sora had made sure that he was healing correctly. From far away, Ino and Sakura had watched the two back together and started betting on how much time it would take for the two to realize how much the other liked them.<p>

The trip to head back had been slow as Shikamaru wasn't quite ready to go full speed. Seeing this, Asuma decided to tell Shikaku and Sakura to head back ahead of them so they could report to Lady Tsunade and make sure that she doesn't send more people out to find them. Thus, there was only team 10 left together to travel back.

Asuma had been happy to notice his team's dynamic was starting to build back up. Although everyone expected Sora to be ticked off by Ino's deceiving plans, they were surprised to see that she wasn't. Being on good terms with Shikamaru again helped her get over the Ino issue. By the time they got back to Konoha, the team was chatting and laughing all together again. Once they reached the middle of the village, they agreed on how exhausted they all were from the trip which led them to split up in order to catch some sleep.

As he had started to do before their fight, Shikamaru insisted on walking Sora back to her house. Although they didn't speak, they felt comfortable in their silence. On the way back, they walked by the school's construction site. Surprisingly, it didn't cross the girl's mind to go look for Daichi. She was so distracted that she forgot to take a couple of minutes to let her boyfriend know that she was back. However, from the distance, the boy saw his girlfriend. Not only did he see her, he noticed how she was walking with Shikamaru which made his blood boil in anger.

Once they reached her house, Shikamaru made sure that she could go in and told her to make sure to catch some sleep. The girl laughed as she told him that she didn't need to be told twice. With a smile, the boy left towards his house.

Inside her own house, Sora didn't take the time to unpack her bag and directly went to change out of her clothing which, by now, felt disgusting considering the weather she had to travel through on the way there. When she was in more comfortable clothing and ready to sleep, a loud knocking was heard on her door. Surprised, the girl walked back to the front of her house and opened the door. There, in front of her, she saw Daichi.

"Daichi! Hi!" she said with a large smiling.

"Hey darling. I'm glad to see that you're back!" he said with a slight smile.

Noting his lack of happiness, she realized her mistake. "Oh my god, I'm sorry I didn't let you know I was back. This mission stripped me from all my energy! I'm so exhausted that I can barely stand up now."

He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"It's okay dear, I saw you walking by our construction site. Besides, I also wanted to apologize."

The girl looked up at him, confused.

"I feel bad for the way I reacted when you told me that you had to leave on your mission. That was wrong of me. I actually hope that your teammates are fine."

Her smile grew wider. "Yeah, they are!"

He smiled at her reaction. "Anyways, will you let me take you out tonight in order to apologize for my rude behaviour?"

The girl checked the time. It was about two o'clock in the afternoon which left her with plenty of time to take a nap and get ready.

"Yeah, that works for me. Are you picking me up at the same time than usual?"

"Yeah, be ready!" he replied while kissing her again on her forehead.

He then said goodbye as he had to run back to his work. He had been allowed only a short break. Once he was gone and she had closed the door, Sora rubbed her forehead with a frown. She really wished that he would stop kissing her forehead.

* * *

><p>Walking in his house, Shikamaru heard: "Finally back!"<p>

The boy frowned. Of course his dad would pick on him because of how slow he was now.

"Had a good trip?" asked his dad with a smile.

Shikamaru scratched his head.

"Yeah, just tired now. I think I'll go for a nap."

"If your mom lets you. She's been making me work like a slave for her ever since I've been back!" the man told him with a wink.

"I can hear you!" they both heard the woman shout from the kitchen.

"Geez," mumbled the boy.

"I love you honey!" Shikaku shouted back.

In the distance, they only heard a frustrated sigh which made the man laugh.

"Anyways, how is it going with Sora?" he asked.

"Well, good. Much better now for sure," answered the boy, unsure whether he wanted to cover this kind of topic with him.

"Good! When are you asking her out?"

Nope. Shikamaru did not want to cover this subject. Not at all. He simply replied:

"She has a boyfriend, dad."

"Right, right. This Daichi guy who almost seemed like he wanted to run away when he met me!" Shikaku said with a laugh.

"Wait, you met him?" asked Shikamaru surprised.

"Yes, that's a very long boring story. Anyhow, keep an eye on Sora. She's clearly not happy with that guy."

"Uh… sure?" answered the boy unsure. "Now I'm going to sleep though."

While mumbling "what a drag", Shikamaru went upstairs to his room and started to unpack. Once he was done and laid down on his bed, he thought about how Reena had also asked him to keep an eye on the girl. He chuckled when he remembered how she had made it seem like a life or death situation. Slowly, sleep caught up to him and he fell asleep.

* * *

><p>As promised, a loud knock was heard on Sora's door at six o'clock. Quickly, Sora opened the door and let her boyfriend in as she found her things. When they walked out, Daichi quickly put his arm around her waist. Although she was clearly uncomfortable with it, he gave it no attention.<p>

He talked about all the progress they made on the school while she was gone which she simply nodded once in a while to show she was listening. She then tried to talk about her mission. He was listening and happily nodding while she explained her trip to the village under the torrid rain.

"It mustn't have been fun travelling in that without anything to cover yourself with!" he commented.

With a laugh, she answered: "Tell me about it!"

He also laughed when she talked about the state the village was in and how his talent would have been needed by everyone there. However, when she got to the part where they discovered what happened to her teammates and how Shikamaru had a broken leg, Daichi interrupted her and changed the subject. She looked at him in surprise and noticed that something was wrong with her boyfriend but decided that he would tell her about it if he wanted.

Walking by a ramen shop, her stomach growled. She asked him if they could eat there tonight but the boy refused saying that he didn't feel like ramen. Further down the road, he pointed at an exotic restaurant. Picking up her courage, Sora politely told him that she really wasn't in the mood for exotic food tonight. As his hold around her waist tightened, she looked up to see how he his jaw was clenched. He was clearly upset by her comment.

"But if you really want to go there, why don't we?" she asked him, worried to ruin the mood.

He looked down at her. "No darling. I'm not going to force you to eat something you don't want. We'll find something to please you," he said with a very unfriendly tone.

Sora started to feel very uncomfortable. So, when they reached another restaurant and he asked her if she wanted to eat there, she agreed quickly. Inside the restaurant, they unfortunately had to wait for a table to clear up. During the wait, she could see that her boyfriend was becoming impatient. Taking lightly his hand in hers, she looked up at him and finally asked him what was wrong. As he was about to answer, a waiter popped up, declaring that their table was ready.

At their table, she happily picked up her menu and started reading it. Looking over her menu, she realized how the boy, sitting in front of her, wasn't the extremely cheerful Daichi which she used to go out with all the time. She wondered if it was her fault. The waiter came by again to take their orders and left. After an awkward silence, Sora asked him again:

"Daichi, what's bothering you tonight?"

Looking at her, he said unconvincingly: "I'm just really thoughtful and tired."

The girl smiled encouragingly. "A penny for your thought?"

Over the table, he took her hands in his and squeezed them tightly, a bit too tightly.

"Sora, what are your feelings for me?" he asked very seriously.

"My feelings? Well, that's hard to answer. I love hanging out with you, that's for sure."

"Do you like being my girlfriend?" he continued.

"Of course!" she said with an uncomfortable smile. Talking about her feelings wasn't her favorite subject. She then asked him: "Is that what's been bothering you tonight?"

Seeing her worried expression, Daichi faked a laugh.

"Yeah, sorry. I guess I was being a bit emotional today!" He then changed the subject. "How are you and your teammates doing?"

"Good! Much better! We solved our differences so there shouldn't be any more problems," she declared happily.

"Good, good," mumbled the boy, thoughtful.

* * *

><p>After the supper at the restaurant, Daichi walked her back to her house. When they got there, Daichi kissed her roughly on the lips. Sora forcefully smiled and lied:<p>

"I really enjoyed our night out tonight! Thank you for taking me out again!"

Daichi leaned with one arm against the house and smiled thoughtfully without answering. The girl looked at him, confused by his sudden change of behaviour. Unsure what to do, she used her key to unlock her door to realize that she forgot to lock it, again. Opening the door, she laughed nervously.

"Guess I forgot to lock the door again."

"Better be careful with that," he said on a very low tone. When he noticed that she was politely waiting for him to leave, he asked: "Hey, do you mind if I come in for a glass of water? The food really made me thirsty!"

"Oh… sure!" the girl answered with a smile.

When they walked inside, she told him to wait in the living room while she walked off to the kitchen to grab him a glass of water. Once she got back to the living room, she noticed how agitated her boyfriend seemed. He even jumped when she arrived behind him and said:

"Here's your glass of water!"

While he chugged the water, she studied his face.

"Are you sure you're okay, Daichi?"

"Yes. Well actually… no."

"Really? Is there anything I can do?"

Putting his glass down on a table with her drawings, he roughly grabbed her by the wrists.

"Actually, there is." He pushed her on the sofa behind her and, while still holding her wrists, added: "I need you to show me how much you love me."

"Wait! What are you…" she shouted.

But Daichi cut her off with a rough kiss. The more she struggled to get out from under his massive body, the rougher he got. When he forcefully pushed his tongue inside her mouth, she panicked and bit it. Daichi backed off while shouting in rage.

"You little bitch!"

He hit her across the face, ripped off her headband around her neck, and then grabbed her by the neck.

"I need you to give me what I want, Sora. Now just be a nice girl and stop fighting me off," he whispered, painting, in her ear.

With his grip on her neck, the young girl could barely breathe. She panicked and screamed when she felt his other hand slip under her shirt. Enraged, Daichi hit her again.

"Shut up!"

He then resumed his kissing. On her back, she stretched her right arm until she could feel her pouch. When she finally reached it, she tried the best she could to slip her fingers in it. The task was however difficult considering how it was under her and she was being crushed by the boy's heavy body. She then grabbed one of her kunai firmly and, with one quick hit, stabbed the boy in his side.

In pain, the boy rolled off her and unto the ground. She shakily got up and tried to back away but he grabbed her leg and she fell beside the table.

"Stop being so stupid!" he said as he crawled back on her.

In panic, she reached out for the glass that was sitting on the table and hit the boy hard on the side of the head. Thankfully, it was enough to knock him unconscious. Still in shock, she sat there for several seconds, breathing heavily and staring at the boy in case he would wake up again. Shakily, she finally got the courage to get up and without thinking ran out of the house as fast as she could.

She couldn't think properly. The only thing she could concentrate on was running. First thing she knew, she ended up in front of someone's house. Without thinking, she knocked in panic on the door as if Daichi could still possibly be chasing her. When the door didn't open, she urgently knocked again.

* * *

><p>Someone kept banging on the front door which made Shikamaru shout out:<p>

"Yes, yes! I'm coming!" He then mumbled, "Geez, impatient much."

However, when he opened the door, his annoyance flew away instantly. In front of him, Sora stood shakingly in front of him, crying. Her face was swollen and her lip bleeding.

"Sora! What the hell happened?" he shouted out.

She crumbled on the ground in front of him and started to cry loudly while shaking very badly. Walking outside, he kneeled down beside her and put both hands firmly on her shoulders.

"Sora, listen to me. Who did this to you?"

She was barely able to mumble: "D-Daichi…"

Anger filled him. Without another word, he very carefully picked her up and brought her inside.

"Who is it, Shikamaru?" asked his dad while walking out of his room. He then stopped when he saw his son carefully holding Sora who was holding the boy tightly around his neck and crying. "What happened?" he asked softly.

"I don't know," he answered. "She's too in shock to be able to speak."

He then carried her into his room upstairs and laid her down on his bed but she still didn't let go. So, he sat on the bed with her and held her against him. A few minutes passed before Sora started mumbling through her sobs:

"I-I think I killed him…. I-I think I killed him."

Shikamaru tighten his embrace.

"Where is he?" he softly asked her.

It took a few more seconds before she answered:

"M-my house…. L-living room…"

"Okay, I'll go check to make sure he's still alive," he told her, loosening his grip.

But it only caused her to tighten her own grip in panic.

"N-no! P-please! Don't leave me!"

"I'll go," whispered Shikamaru's dad from the bedroom's doorway.

The boy nodded and the man left. He then concentrated all his attention on the girl.

"It's okay now, Sora. Everything will be okay. I'll protect you…"

* * *

><p><strong>Well... this was a bit rough to write but I think I managed just fine!<strong>

**Next update should still be on monday!**

**Share the love, write a review!**


	15. Let's see you try that again

**Hello everyone! I'll make my author's note short today. I'm sure you'll all appreciate this chapter so enjoy!**

**_Disclaimer:_ Still don't own Naruto. Highly doubt that this fact will change...  
><strong>

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><p>Sitting at the dining table, Shikamaru rubbed vigorously his face with both hands. Last night had been not only long but exhausting. To top it off, he hadn't slept at all not only because Sora had been up crying for most of the night but also because he was so filled with rage. Thankfully now, the girl was sleeping soundly.<p>

After his mother served both him and his father breakfast, she sat down in her own chair and looked at both men.

"Will someone explain to me what happened last night?"

"Sora was hit by her boyfriend," explained Shikamaru.

"That's horrible! What kind of man treats a girl that way?" the woman shouted out in outrage.

"Well, at least Sora defended herself," mumbled Shikaku.

"Right, how's he?" asked the boy, hopeful that the news would be bad.

"I brought him at the hospital. From what I saw, she stabbed him in his side with a kunai knife and smashed a glass in his head. He was bleeding quite a bit but nothing major."

Shikamaru actually looked disappointed which made the man smile a bit. As they fell silent, a knock was heard on the front door. The boy got up to open it.

"Hey Choji," said Shikamaru when seeing his friend on the other side of the door.

"Wow, Shikamaru! What's up with you?" asked his friend worried.

"Just...didn't sleep well last night," the black hair boy answered while rubbing his face again.

"Oh. Well, guess what!"

"Uh, sensei wants to meet up with us?" guess Shikamaru.

"Almost! We're meeting up for lunch but we have to bring our own food since sensei's complaining about how broke he is because of us. So what do you say?"

"Uh, well I think I'll actually pass... I should try to catch up on sleep."

"Okay..." said Choji disappointed."Well, if you ever change your mind, we'll be on the academy's roof at 12 sharp."

"Sure, thanks," said the boy slowly closing the door. Then remembering about Sora, he quickly said: "Oh yeah, Sora won't come. Apparently, she's been sick."

Choji looked even more disappointed. "Okay... It will be kind of boring without you guys..."

The brown hair boy then left. Thankfully, he hadn't asked any questions or even wondered how his friend could possibly know about Sora. Once he closed the door, Shikamaru returned to the dining table very slowly.

"Didn't you want to tell him about Sora?" asked Shikaku.

"No. I think Sora should do it when she wants to," answered the boy while eating again.

"So, do we know the reason that boy hit Sora?" asked Shikamaru's mother.

Shikaku looked at his son, wondering the same thing.

"No, she really didn't talk about it. She really just cried…"

The boy thought back to last night. Remembering the girl crying so much made him feel uncomfortable. He'd never seen her in this kind of state.

"Oh, right. I found this," said Shikaku putting Sora's headband on the table. "I found in in the living room near where the boy was. He must have taken it off."

"What I don't get is why she would only stab him with a kunai in his side. If she really had wanted to defend herself or even kill him, she could have done so…" wondered Shikamaru while stabbing his food in his plate, without really eating it.

"I really didn't have the opportunity given the situation…" a very quiet voice said from behind the boy.

Turning around, the black hair boy saw the girl standing there. Her face wasn't swollen anymore but she had a black eye and her bottom lip was split. To top it all off, bruises clearly marked her skin around her neck and her wrists.

"Sora…" mumbled the boy. Realizing that he was barely whispering, he asked a bit louder: "Are you feeling better? Did you need something?"

The girl rubbed her arm uncomfortably. "Well, I don't want to be a burden for all of you so I'm probably going to take my leave and head for my house."

"None sense!" spoke up Shikamaru's mother. "You are always welcomed here! Beside, you look like you would really need a shower. Why don't you go take one while Shikamaru goes and grabs some of your clothing at your house? We will even prepare you our guest room so you can stay a couple days or at least until we figure things out with this rude boy that has done this to you!"

The girl was dumbfounded. She hadn't expected to be welcomed or even asked to stay at the Shikamaru's house. Seeing her struggle with what to say, Shikamaru got up and stood facing the girl.

"I think that sounds like a plan. What would you need from your house?" he asked.

"Well..." the girl started thoughtful."I didn't really unpack my bag from last mission so everything that's essential is still in there. Beside for that, I need clothing, more specifically my dark blue hoodie."

Shikamaru reviewed in his head Sora's house layout and remembered what her bag looked like. He then nodded when he was fairly sure he knew where to find everything. When he did so, Sora smiled weakly and said: "Thank you."

"Good, now that we have this figured out, I need to go work," said Shikoku while getting up. Before leaving, he added: "Feel free to stay with us as long as you want Sora."

The girl nodded in understanding.

* * *

><p>Before jumping in the shower, Sora looked at herself in the mirror. Lightly, she touched the purple mark that circled her right eye which still sting a bit. She still couldn't believe what happened last night. Daichi had been so nice and so sweet and in one night, everything changed. Sora closed her eyes, angry at herself. Without giving the mirror another look, she got in the shower and rubbed her skin vigorously as if she could wash last night's event away.<p>

Under the water, she started feeling better. Letting the water run down the skin, she closed her eyes and let her mind run free. After what seems like hours, a knock brought her back to reality. On the other side of the door, she heard Shikamaru.

"Hey, I left your bags in front of the door. If you need anything, I'll be in the living room."

"Okay!" she took the time to answer.

Deciding that it had been long enough, Sora closed the shower and started getting ready after quickly grabbing her bags. As a final touch, she put on her hoodie, carefully hiding what she could from last night.

When she walked out, Sora put her bags on her back, unsure where she could put them. She then remembered that Shikamaru said that he'd be in the living room so she headed there. Walking in, she didn't see the boy right away. She looked around to finally notice a leg stretching out at the end of the sofa. She walked up to the sofa and leaning on the back of it, she saw the boy lying on his back, fast asleep. The girl leaned in a bit more and looked at the boy for a bit. He looked actually attractive sleeping like that.

Realizing what she was thinking, she straightened up, blushing. Not wanting to wake him up, she started looking around, wondering at the same time how she could have ever compared Daichi to him. Now that she reflected over her feelings, what she felt for Shikamaru had been and would probably always be on a whole different level. When she reached the kitchen, she found Shikamaru's mother.

"Ah, Sora! You looked already much better!"

For some unexplained reason, the girl was very shy around the woman.

"Thank you," she answered very quietly.

Noticing that the girl had her bags on her back, the woman smiled sweetly.

"Would you like to see where you will be staying?"

"Yes, thank you!"

They both walked to the guest room and the girl settled her bags down. As she was looking around, Shikamaru appeared in the door way, stretching.

"Did I miss something?" he asked with a yawn.

His mother gave him a hard look.

"Yes, our guest didn't know where her room was because you were busy sleeping your ass off!"

Sora waved her hands in front of her. "It's okay, Ms. Nara! Shikamaru didn't sleep last night!"

The boy looked at her, wondering how she knew that, but she smiled it off. His mother walked out, going to the kitchen to resume what she was doing. Once she was gone, he looked at Sora and asked:

"So, did you want to do something?"

Sora sat on the edge of her bed and sighed. She knew she had to do something about last night. Thinking carefully, she finally came with an idea.

"Actually, I need to talk to Asuma-sensei. Do you know where he could be?"

"Uh..." Shikamaru looked up at a nearby clock. It was a little past twelve. "Actually, yeah."

"I know I'm asking a lot of you, but could you go get him?"

Scratching his head, Shikamaru said jokingly: "I would usually say that it's a drag but I guess this time I won't say it. What should I tell him?"

"Just tell him that 'it's one of these times'. He'll understand."

The boy gave a questioning look but she only smiled, which made him decide not to ask. Turning around, he told her:

"Stay here then."

"I will," she told him.

Shikamaru hurried out of the house and to the academy. He was sure that the team should still be here. Like he guessed, he found his sensei and his teammates when he reached the roof.

"Shikamaru, you came!" Choji said happily.

"Hey, I'm here to talk to sensei," he quickly explained, too tired to get into any lengthy chat.

"Here and present!" said Asuma.

"Actually, can I talk to you privately?" he asked, grabbing the man's full attention. He then added for the others: "No offense."

Both Choji and Ino nodded without saying anything while the man got up and walked further away with Shikamaru.

"So what's up?" asked Asuma.

"It's Sora. She said to tell you: 'it's one of these times'."

The man grew instantly serious. "She said that, eh?"

"Yes. Word for word," confirmed Shikamaru.

The man lit up a smoke and slowly took a puff of it.

"Where is she?" he asked in more hush tone.

"At my house."

"Perfect."

Asuma turned around and looked at the other two that were still eating.

"Well, looks like I have an important situation on my hands. We'll definitely have to try this lunch thing again another day Ino," he said with a smile."

"And I thought it would be a good idea! First Shikamaru and Sora, and now you!" pouted Ino.

"We'll catch up. Promised," said Shikamaru scratching his head.

And with that, Shikamaru and Asuma left leaving the other two staring at each other, confused. They quickly reached the boy's house. Walking in, Shikamaru made sure to announce his sensei's presence to his mom which made her welcome him. Once they had their shoes off, Shikamaru led Aduma to the guest room where they found Sora sitting on the bed, with her hood on in a way to catch her face, and drawing.

"Sensei's here," announced the boy.

The girl jumped. She hadn't heard either of them come in the house or even go up the stairs that led to the rooms. Slowly, she put her things down and carefully keeping her head down, she sat on the side of the bed.

"So what did you need me for?" the man asked.

"Well..." The girl hesitated. She then slowly raised her hands and pulled her hood back. Seeing the bruises again made Shikamaru look away uncomfortably. The sight of her in this state made Asuma angry. He walked closer and, putting one knee down, he took a close look.

"Who?" he simply asked.

"That guy I've been dating, Daichi."

"What happened?" the man asked, his voice becoming low.

Sora bit her lip gently and looked up worried at Shikamaru. Noticing this, Asuma asked her if she wanted him to leave but she shook her head.

"No, it's just that I haven't told him."

Getting up, Asuma sat on the bed beside her. Not wanting to pressure her, he waited until she was ready while Shikamaru closed the room's door and leaned back against it. The girl twirled her fingers nervously together.

"Daichi, he... I don't know what got into him. He was acting weird and when I brought him a glass of water, he chugged it and... he violently pushed me down on the sofa and got on me..." she blurted out.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and crossed his arms while Asuma straightened up, shaking with anger.

"Did he...?" he tried to ask but the thought of it made him even more enraged.

"No... I stabbed him and knocked him unconscious then ran away."

The man got up and started walking around. He wanted to smoke really badly but couldn't since he was in someone's house. He then stopped suddenly and looked at the girl.

"Where is he now?"

She looked at Shikamaru.

"I think Mr. Nara said that he was in the hospital..." she said unsure.

Shikamaru nodded to confirm.

"Excellent. Let's go," the man said.

Both his students looked at each other in confusion. Finally, the boy shook his shoulders and decided to follow the man as he forced his way out of the room. Sora followed closely behind. They only understood where they were going when, fifteen minutes, they reached the hospital. Walking in the main lobby, Asuma turned around and looked at Shikamaru.

"I need you to wait for us here."

Shikamaru opened his mouth but when he saw how serious his sensei was, he shut his mouth and nodded. After that, it was just Asuma and Sora walking quickly in the hallway.

"Asuma... what are we doing?" asked the girl, fully realizing that she hadn't called the man without his honorable title for years now.

"We're going to have a nice little chat with your ex-boyfriend."

They reached the information desk and Asuma asked nicely the woman where they could find Daichi Riku. She surprisingly gave him the information without asking any questions. Must have been because of the headband, Sora guessed. They then walked down in the right direction and just before entering the room, Asuma asked Sora to stay behind him and not say a word. Still confused, she nodded quickly, feeling quite uncomfortable about the situation.

They then pushed the door opened and inside they found Daichi lying in bed awake with his dad sitting on the other side of the bed. As soon as the duo walked in, Daichi's dad got up. Asuma closed the door behind them and then asked with an overly friendly tone:

"You are Daichi's father I assume?"

"Yes," answered the man quickly.

"Dad, it's her," said Daichi to his dad while motioning Sora who was standing awkwardly behind Asuma like he had asked her.

Daichi's dad's face filled with anger.

"You! You tried to kill my son!" he took a step in the girl's direction but stopped when Asuma stood squarely between them. "You little insolent child. An orphan like you shouldn't be free to walk around like that or else this is what happens!"

Sora swallowed. She had not expected this.

"Now, now, sir. Calm down," said Asuma with this same calm and overly friendly tone. "We're here for some apologies!"

Sora looked at the man in disbelief. Did he really expect her to apologize for what she did?

"We don't want any apologies from dirt like her!" spat out Daichi's dad.

"Good, good!" continued Asuma. He then opened his pouch and took out one of his special knives.

Sora looked at the man, unsure what he was thinking. While he slipped his right hand through his weapon, he continued with a big smile:

"You see, I think you understood me wrong. We didn't come here to apologize but to get some apologies from your son!"

Although Daichi's dad had become white at the sight of the weapon, he still somehow had the guts to still stand up to him.

"My son was assaulted by that monster behind you!"

Asuma walked closer to Daichi's bed.

"Oh? Well I just have a simple message for your son then!" he first said on the same tone he had kept until now. Then, out of the blue, he stabbed down his weapon in the night table beside the bed with brute force and said with a low and very dangerous voice: "The next time you try to rape my goddaughter or even dare to hit her again, I'll make sure you regret even being born!"

Everyone in the room, including Sora, was in complete state of shock. Asuma then put his arm around Sora's shoulder and said with a soft tone:

"Time to go, dear."

When they got out of the room and walked away, Sora finally got over the initial shock to mumble:

"I'm sorry..."

The man looked at her then burst out laughing.

"Are you kidding? This felt great! Beside, when I was named as your legal guardian, I expected way more trouble from you but you turned out to be an angel! I'm glad you finally asked for my help!" he said with a huge smile.

Several minutes later, they reached the lobby where Shikamaru had been waiting for them. When they approached, the boy got up and noticed the girl's still shocked face.

"Wait, what happened?" he asked.

Asuma simply tapped his shoulder while saying: "Long story... Loooong story."

Walking outside, Shikamaru asked :

"So what are we doing about Daichi?"

"Oh, we'll take some precautions but he shouldn't approach Sora anymore. From what I could understand, your family offered to keep Sora for a while? Do you think you parents will let her stay over for about a week?"

"I'll ask my parents, but I'm pretty sure the answer will be yes."

He then looked and smiled at Sora who reflected his smile.

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><p><strong>Well this was super fun to write!<strong>

**Share the love, write a review!**


	16. Facing the world

**Hi everyone, sorry for how long it took me to put this up. It's a bit hectic at work right now so I'm going to go back to one update a week for a while. **

**Thanks everyone for reading this far. I'm also always happy to hear your comments and opinion!**

_**Disclaimer:**_** I still don't own Naruto.**

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><p>It had now been three days that Sora was staying at Shikamaru's house. It was a bit awkward at first but the girl was now starting to be comfortable. The only issue there was, really, was that she was a bit afraid of walking outside with the way she looked. Her trip to the hospital had been the last time she had walked out. Shikamaru, who also had noticed this, decided that it was time for her to take some fresh air.<p>

And so, today the team was to meet for lunch at noon. This was kind of a second attempt to Ino's first plan that had turn quite wrong since at the end there was only her and Choji that fully participated. Shikamaru was waiting patiently, with their food in his hands, outside the guest room, waiting for Sora to feel comfortable enough to come out. When she finally did, she was gripping on to her hoodie for dear life. It was her only protection from everyone's staring.

However, when they walked out, she realized that it wasn't so bad. In fact, most people didn't even bother to look at her to begin with. The only thing that the others might sometime have looked at was the impressive dragonfly design that was printed on her back, which really cause no worries. Seeing the girl relax gradually made the boy walking by her side smile.

"See? It's not so bad now is it?"

The girl sighed.

"I guess I was dramatizing a bit…"

They later on reached the top of the academy room where Choji and Ino were already waiting.

"You two came!" happily shouted out Ino.

She ran up to the two arrivals but slowed down when she saw Sora's face hidden under her hoodie.

"Sora… is that why we haven't seen you for the last few days?"

The black hair girl rubbed her right arm awkwardly.

"Yeah."

"It's him, isn't it?"

Sora nodded. The blonde girl got angry.

"Well when I get my hands on him…"

Shikamaru stopped her with a chuckle.

"Oh trust me, he's been taking care of!"

Choji, who had walked closer, looked wide-eyes at Shikamaru, thinking that he was the one who had taken care of Daichi. Behind the two arrivals, Asuma appeared.

"He'll remember to stay away. I made sure of it," the man said with a knowing smile.

Ino and Choji finally decided to give up on knowing what happened. Happily, they simply walked back to the place where they had already spread out the food they brought and from the looks of it, Choji had already started eating.

"You guys were taking a lot of time…" he said as an excuse while scratching the back of his head.

While the group ate, they tried to catch Sora up on what she had missed these last few days. But to be honest, she hadn't exactly missed anything. They were all just hoping for another mission soon but Asuma decided that it would probably great to catch up on their training. While the boys started discussing with their sensei about what they wished to improve, Sora noticed that Ino kept staring at her. Getting uncomfortable, she told her:

"Ino… I know that my face looks horrible right now. Could you stop staring at it?"

Ino looked surprised.

"Oh no, sorry! I wasn't staring at you because of that! I was actually thoughtful. I think I might have a kind of powder that might suit you. It would probably help to hide the bruising!"

"Oh?" said Sora interested.

She never appreciated any kind of makeup like the other girls but she didn't appreciate looking the way she was right now either. So the blonde girl's offer was actually interesting.

"Yeah! If you want, I can come by and drop it off at your house this afternoon!" Ino answered gleefully.

"Thanks!" said the girl happy. "Oh wait. Not my house. Right now, I'm still staying at Shikamaru's house."

"Oooooh?" said Ino suddenly overly interested by what she was saying.

"Yeah, his parents insisted that I stay over until we are sure that Daichi stays away from me," she explained awkwardly.

"Well that's interesting!" the gossip queen said with a huge smile.

"Ino, leave it," said Shikamaru from the other side of Sora.

The girl pouted. She was excited at the thought that those two were maybe getting closer but she wanted to make sure before announcing it proudly at Sakura and the other girls. However, it was hard to get anywhere with Shikamaru keeping a close eye on her. He was getting too used to her making her investigations.

At the end of lunch, the group split up, deciding to meet at the training ground tomorrow to train furthermore. As everyone walked away, Shikamaru and Sora were walking beside each other in the middle of town. When they turned around a corner, they noticed a group of several ninjas walking together. They recognized all of them almost right away.

"Reena, you're back!" shouted out Sora happily.

The girl with white hair slowed down and turned around.

"Sora!" shouted the girl.

She ran up to the two with a smile.

"It's nice to see the two of you again!" But her happy expression faded away when she saw her best friend's face. "What the hell happened to you?"

The black hair girl had come to forget about the state of her face.

"Oh, um… there's a lot that happen during your mission. I can tell you all about it over some tea somewhere?"

Reena tilted her head curiously but decided not to push the matter any further, at least for now. She simply nodded in agreement.

"Ok. I need to make my report and make sure everything's okay with the hidden sand nins first. Did you want to follow us to the Hokage's building or meet me in an hour somewhere?"

Before answering, the black hair girl turned to look at Shikamaru to see what he thought about it to notice that he wasn't beside her anymore. Looking a bit around, she saw him standing with the rest of the group, talking with Temari. Sora rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably under her hoodie.

"Well, I guess we'll be following the group."

Following from behind, Sora eyed Kankuro, Temari and two others hidden sand nins that were in the group.

"So why are there sand nins here?" asked Sora to her friend.

"Hm? Oh, because there's been problems with some missing nins that are causing issues on the roads between Suna and here. We eventually ran into them and seems like Gaara wants to work out a plan with Lady Tsunade to fix the problem together."

"Oh..." Sora said thoughtfully while looking at Temari, in front of her, who was openly flirting and chatting with Shikamaru.

Naruto, who seemed to have been on Reena's team, was trying to make plans with Lee, Kiba, and Kankuro for a party. While both listening to Naruto and watching her best friend staring down Temari, Reena said to Sora:

"So, if Naruto manages to throw that party of his, want to come?"

"Huh?" asked Sora confused as she hadn't been listening.

Reena smiled and bumped her shoulder against her's.

"If you keep staring her down like that, everyone, including Naruto, will notice," the white hair girl whispered.

"Ah! S-sorry!" whispered back her friend.

"Hey, no need to apologize!"

Sora was actually discouraged. She had been working so hard on getting closer to Shikamaru that now it seemed like it was all going out through the window. When the group arrived at the Hokage's building, Shikamaru and Sora waited outside while the group went in to report. While they were waiting, the two leaned on a wall and stayed there in silence. From the corner of his eye, the boy noticed that the girl was nervously tugging on her hoodie.

"You okay?" he asked worried.

The girl jumped and looked at him.

"Y-yeah. I just started worrying about how my face looks again..."

The boy smiled.

"Hey, worst case scenario, you can tell people that you got that from a mission."

The girl giggled.

"Yeah, I just got to say that someone got around my justus and I couldn't defend myself against..."

Realizing what she was saying, she stopped mid-sentence and bit her lip. Of course, she wasn't as a good of a ninja as Temari or the others and it bothered her.

"Hey Sora," said the boy to bring her back to reality. "What's bothering you? Did Ino say something wrong again while I wasn't looking?"

His question made her smile. Yes of course, Ino could be annoying but she got used to it. So when she was going to open her mouth to explain how she felt, they were interrupted by the door opening and several people coming out. First came Naruto who was incredibly excited about being able to throw a party and then Kiba, Lee, and the sand nins. Noticing the boy that had waited for them, Temari came to see him.

"So before we go to his party, my team is starving and we'd like to go eat at one of the best places. Care to show us around?" she asked with a smile.

"I'd love to but I'm sure that the guys can show you around," answered the boy while motioning toward the other three.

"Yeah, I know. But they'll be busy preparing their party. Beside, you're fun to have around," she said while putting her finger against his left shoulder.

Shikamaru sighed. He finally accepted and asked Sora:

"Do you want to come with us? We already ate but.."

"No," she cut in with a huge smile. "I promised Reena to wait for her since we'll go out for tea!"

"Okay... see you later at my place before the party?" he asked just before leaving.

"Yeah!"

Reassured, Shikamaru turned and left with the group. He felt a bit guilty for leaving Sora alone as he kind of made a silent promise not to leave her by herself. What he didn't notice though was how the girl's reassuring smile transformed into a very sad one for a different reason than the boy would have thought.

"Hey Sora, you're going to come tonight, right? I'll try the best I can to clean up..." said Naruto standing behind her.

"Yeah, of course! I'm sure Choji and Ino will want to come too!" she answered.

"Awesome! See you tonight!" shouted the boy happily as he left with the other two.

It took roughly another 15 minutes before Reena came out. When the girl walked outside, she scratched her head feeling bad.

"Hey, sorry it took so long... I didn't expect to have to go in certain details," she said.

"No, it's fine," simply told her friend.

"What's with the long face? And where's Shikamaru and the others?"

"Naruto left to prepare his place for tonight's party and Shikamaru left with Temari and the sand nins."

"Ah," mumbled Reena, perfectly understanding how the girl felt. "Come on, let's go drink somewhere and talk it all out!"

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><p>After finding a little quiet tea place and receiving a very delighting lavender tea, Reena picked up her cup and blowing at it, asked:<p>

"Ok, so what did I miss? Who did this to you?"

The girl took a deep breath and thought back. She first told her friend about the great time she had on Shikamaru's birthday then how she kissed him on the cheek but since he hadn't reacted, she had been afraid that he wasn't into her. So she kept her distance and around the same time bumped into someone incredibly nice called Daichi. Sora also explained how it went downhill with Shikamaru to the point where he had purposely left her out on a mission. However, she discovered his real motive and they became friends again.

The girl swallowed hard as she got to the hardest part: when Daichi hit her while trying to take advantage of her. She also added how Asuma scared her ex-boyfriend shitless - something she had not mentioned to anyone yet except Shikamaru. Reena looked very amused by her sensei's solution. Finally, she tied the knot of her story with how she was staying over at Shikamaru's for now.

"And now Temari," said Reena with a knowing smile.

"Yeah... I know it's stupid to be jealous," commented Sora.

"Hey! It's a normal reaction for anyone to be jealous but I don't think you need to worry too much."

"Maybe..." mumbled the black hair girl, unconvinced.

"Well, how about this: tell me what you think Temari has more than you?"

"Well... looks to begin with..."

Reena giggled. "You think Shikamaru's into looks?"

"No, but you never know! Maybe unconsciously he does!" tried to theorize Sora.

"Ok then… what else?"

The girl bit her lip. "Stronger. She's much stronger."

Her answer caught her best friend's full attention. Thoughtful, she asked:

"When was the last time you used your necklace?"

Sora's hand went up to the necklace that had stayed with her through everything that had happened recently.

"The training test."

The white hair girl sighed.

"You want to get stronger? Then learn how to use it properly."

Memories of the training flashed through Sora's mind. She swallowed uncomfortably.

"And how do I do that?"

Her friend smiled. "I know it scares you but that's maybe because I didn't explain its function properly the first time around. You see, the necklace doesn't only make your justus stronger. It makes your chakra more durable." Seeing the girl's confused look, she decided to give an example: "Your water clones. How many have you ever managed to do without your necklace?"

"Well, four. Five if I haven't used any chakra yet."

"But with this necklace, I bet you could make up to twenty of them! One problem though: you're not used to manipulating that much chakra. As soon as you would make your twenty clones, they would crumble down into a puddle."

"Then how can I fix that?" asked the girl now fully understanding.

"You'll have to get creative but I do have an idea for you. Make several clones; let's say ten since your chakra manipulation is still pretty darn good. After that, try to perform other techniques while still holding your clone technique. With lots of practice, I bet you could even create more techniques of your own," explained Reena with a huge smile.

Sora stared down at her cup, running her best friend's words through her mind. She was actually adding to it to some other ideas of her own in order to make it as complex as possible. With a plan finally in mind, she looked at her friend.

"You're the greatest! I need to go, though. I'm excited to try something out!" Getting up, she took some money out, put it on the table and then said to her friend: "I'll let you know about it tonight at the party if it works, okay?"

Reena nodded with a huge smile. Sora then ran off excitedly while her best friend was delighted that she was able to help her best friend.

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><p><strong>And that's it. A bit short but it's because the next one is actually very long. <strong>

**Share the love, write a review! **

**Thanks for reading!**


	17. Finding Sora

**Good morning (or afternoon/evening - depending when you'll be reading this) everyone! This chapter is actually short but has some fluff in it. **

**Next update should be on Monday.**

**Enjoy.**

**-Insert "Disclaimer" here- (Seriously though, I think it's pretty obvious that I don't own Naruto, right?)**

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><p>When reaching the training ground that her team usually used, Sora made sure to scan the whole area to make sure that no one else was there. She wanted to make sure not to be disturbed while making some experiments. Finally satisfied by being alone, she stood in the middle of training ground, where there was an open space, and with a hand sign made several clones of herself.<p>

"Sheesh, I really do look awful..." she mumbled while looking at her clones' bruised face.

She then counted how many clones there was: eleven. With a smile, Sora proudly thought about how she was now able to do so many of them with no problem.

"Listen up everyone! You are all me so you basically already know what I want and how I want us to train. Go all out and have fun!"

All the clones nodded and disappeared. The plan was simple: survival training. The last one standing won. While the other clones cannot perform any jutsus, she could and, at the same time, she would get more practice on that level too. Now running through the trees, Sora was trying to make a plan in her head. As a team, Shikamaru would always make the plans so she needed to practice that too.

Suddenly, the girl noticed a movement behind her. Just in time, she substituted herself with a log of wood as a kunai knife was about to hit her in the back. Grabbing some shurikens, she threw them at the clone that had thrown the kunai and it went down in a puddle of water.

"One!" she said gleefully.

As she celebrated her victory, she barely dodged another flying kunai knife that flew near her face. Jumping up and skipping from tree to tree, she looked behind her to see another one of her clones.

"Geez. Trying to kill me much?" she shouted at it.

"If that's what it takes to win then there's no other option!" it replied.

"What the hell!"

"Hey, it was you who made us and asked us to have survival training!"

Sora opened her mouth but then shut it close while hiding her face in one hand.

"I can't believe I'm arguing with _myself_:"

At the next tree, she spun around it and reaching the other side of it, threw a kunai at the clone that was chasing her. Struck in the chest, it fell down to the ground and crashed in a puddle of water. Landing down beside the puddle, she calculated roughly the amount of water there was for her to perform a jutsu. Not enough yet. Turning around, she blocks just in time another clone's punch. Defeating this one was harder as they fought using only taijutsu, one of her weakest point. When she managed to strike it down into a puddle of water, she was breathing heavily. This training was becoming harder than she thought but at least now she had enough water to do her jutsus. So when she noticed another movement on her left, Sora was able to perform several hand signs and say:

"Water release: bullet points jutsu."

Small balls of water formed in the puddles near her and flew toward the movement she had perceived. Most of them struck the nearby trees, leaving deep holes in the them, and at least one hit the clone as Sora heard the familiar sound of a clone transforming back into water.

"Four!"

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><p>Shikamaru had come back home after guiding Temari and her team around Konoha until she was finally satisfied enough to let him go. To his disappointment, Sora wasn't home yet. He had been sure that she would head back directly here seeing how uncomfortable she was with walking around with bruises on her face.<p>

When, later on, Ino came by to bring the powder she had promised to bring to her friend, he started to worry.

"You'll make sure that she will come tonight, right?" asked the girl when Shikamaru announced that Sora wasn't there.

"Yes, Ino, I will make sure that she comes," he answered with a sigh.

"And you won't bail out either, right?" she asked while looking sceptical.

The boy simply nodded while rolling his eyes.

"Good, give her this and tell her that there's a mirror in it for her," she finally said satisfied as she put the little powder case in his hands. "I'm counting on you!" And with that, she was gone.

What was she up to now? That only thought troubled the boy. Ino was already hard to keep up with so when she was planning something, he always worried about what girly dangers he would have to face. Quickly putting away the powder case in his back pouch, he decided to head out to find Sora.

He first started with her house just in case she had gone there to get something. When he saw that she wasn't there, he then went up to the little hill that the girl liked so much. Still no luck. The only thing he could think now was to walk aimlessly around the village which got another sigh out of him. Such a drag.

After half an hour of walking through the streets looking for the girl, it was by pure luck that he ran into Reena.

"Hey, Reena!" he called out.

She looked around till she saw him.

"Hey, Shikamaru! Aren't you with the sand nins?"

"No, I went home to go meet Sora before the party but she hasn't returned yet. Now I can't find her anywhere. Would you know where she is?" he asked hopeful.

With her hands on her hips, she started thinking for a moment. Reflecting back on their conversation, she had an idea.

"Have you checked the training grounds?"

"Huh?" he said confused. "Why would she be there?"

"Well... I think she felt the need of trying something new," she answered vaguely, carefully avoiding the mention of Temari in order to keep her best friend's secret.

"That's weird... but sure, I'll go check it out. Thanks," he finally told her.

As it was getting dark, he decided to check the training ground his team usually went to in order to train. When he reached it, he looked and listened for any sign of the girl but, not seeing her anywhere, he came to the conclusion that she wasn't there. It's only when he was about to leave that he noticed a dark blue sweater bundled up on the ground near a tree. He walked up to it and picked it up, confirming that it was Sora's. He rolled up the hoodie and pinned it under his arm. Now he had to look for her.

With the sun coming down quickly, he almost stumbled over Sora while looking for her through the trees. Luckily, though, he saw her just as he was going to set his foot down. There, on the ground, she was sleeping soundly. When kneeling down beside her, Shikamaru noticed how she was covered with scratches and dirt. He shook her by the shoulder till she finally woke up.

"Hn?" she said sleepily while opening one eye.

"Time to wake up, princess. It's dark, we have a party to go to, and from the looks of it, you need a good shower and a new set of clothing."

She sat up slowly and looked around in confusion. Then, she remembered where she was and a smile spread across her face.

"What are you doing here anyways?" asked the boy.

"Training! I'm going to be stronger!"

"Geez, are you pulling on me the same thing that Choji did a few years back?" he asked exasperated at the memory. His friend had become really strange and insisted on training all the time. It was really night and day from his usual self.

"Maybe..." she mumbled while getting up.

After taking a few steps, she became wobbly from fatigue, tripped and fell forward. Luckily, however, Shikamaru had been faster and caught her before she could touch the ground.

"Geez, Sora! You pushed yourself too far again. You really need to take care of yourself more!" he scowled her.

In his arm, she started blushing which, thankfully for her, the growing darkness hid. Keeping her hands on him, he turned around and kneed down so she could do a piggy back. First in silence, they started heading toward Shikamaru's house. Finally noticing where they were heading, Sora spoke up:

"Hey, aren't we going to the party?"

"Not before you clean yourself up."

The girl pouted. Observing her silence, Shikamaru chuckled.

"Seriously, who's the feminine figure between the two of us? You troublesome woman!"

She wiggled around on his back.

"Shikamaru! I hate when you call me like that! I thought you had more respect for me!" she declared on a childish voice.

"Well, my apologies, my lady! Better?" he said with a smile.

She giggled. "Yeah!"

When they reached his house, they walked in and very carefully, Shikamaru set the girl down and made sure that she could stand up by herself. She was still a bit shaky but she could manage. As fast as she could, she took a shower and then got dressed in a slightly more fashioned matter. Maybe Shikamaru didn't care whether they were going to be late or not but she certainly did. She didn't want to be scowled by either Ino or Reena, who already has to face her boyfriend's constant lateness. When she walked down the stairs to find the boy in the living room, she spun around.

"So, do you think I will be up to Ino's party dress-up standard?"

He got up, fighting back the urge of telling her how darn beautiful she looked. Then remembering about Ino, Shikamaru took the powder case out from his back pouch and handed it over to the girl.

"You definitely will be if you use her powder."

"Oh right! She did say that she'd bring it to me!"

The powder was really magical. Surprisingly, it hid all her face's bruises without making it too obvious that there was powder on it.

"Hey, give me the powder for a sec."

Confused, the girl handed over the case. Taking a bit of powder, he stretched his hand and covered Sora's neck bruises. The girl had thought about covering her wrists' with bandages but had totally forgotten about her neck. The contact of him touching her neck sent shivers down her spine.

"Um, t-thank you, now let's go!" she quickly said while taking back the case of powder and putting it in her pocket.

"Did you want to go on my back again?" he offered.

"No, no! I'm good!"

"Good, you're heavy," he mumbled as he walked out of the house.

"Hey!" she shouted at him half angry.

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><p><strong>And that's it for this chapter. Next chapter is longer though.<strong>

**Share the love, write a review!**


	18. Blind lovebirds

**Hello everyone! So this will be a very interesting chapter! I would really appreciate to have some feedback on it since I'd like to work on getting better.**

**I don't think I'll do a disclaimer anymore... it's obvious at this point that I don't own Naruto... right?**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Slowly but surely, they made it to Naruto's place. Of course, with their lateness, they were the last ones to arrive. As they got there, Naruto opened the door and excited, he shouted:<p>

"You two finally came! Ino told me you'd bail out but I'm happy you didn't! Now all my friends are here!"

Shikamaru sighed. "Naruto, you really shouldn't believe everything that Ino says, trust me."

Ignoring his comment, the blonde kid motioned for them to come in. Looking around, they saw plenty of people enjoying themselves and dancing at the loud music. A few minute passed before a white head popped out of the crowd.

"Sora! You're finally here!" shouted Reena excitedly. "Naruto really surpassed himself, didn't he?"

The black hair girl smiled. "Yeah, seems like he did!"

"So what did you do this afternoon?" her friend asked.

"Oh yeah! I followed what you said. I made a training with me and eleven clones. Amazing, right?" Sora said proudly.

"Yeah, it is! I knew you could do it!"

"But then I got a speech from Mr. Lazyass here!" said the girl with a smile while pointing where she thought Shikamaru was still standing.

However, when turning her head to look at the boy, she noticed that he was gone. Looking around swiftly, she couldn't find him anywhere. Spotting Naruto, she went up to him.

"Hey, great party!"

"Thanks!" said the boy, incredibly proud of himself.

"Have you seen Shikamaru?"

"Yeah! He asked me how to get to the roof and I told him to take the stairs at the end of the hallway."

Sora laughed. "Figures. Thanks!"

Naruto smiled slyly which confused the girl. "Oh, you're welcome."

While he left, Sora looked back at her best friend that had followed her.

"What was that about?"

"What was what?" asked Reena confused.

"That face he made! I never saw him do that before."

"Oh..." The white hair girl rolled her eyes. "Well, he started this thing about spying on people, especially those who look like they could make a good couple, and then gossips about it with that face he just made. Sakura and I tried to stop him and explain that it was wrong and unhealthy but eventually Sakura switched side. So I lost my advantage..." she explained discouraged.

"Wait. You mean to say that whatever Ino has is contagious?" asked Sora with a mocking smile.

Both girl laughed at the joke. As if called by the mention of her name, Ino came out of nowhere and wrapped an arm around Sora's neck.

"There you are and you look stunning! That powder really worked its magic on you, huh?"

The black hair girl smiled. "Yeah! Thanks again!"

"Where's Shikamaru anyways?" asked her teammate while looking around.

"Oh Naruto said that he went to his usual hang out spot: the roof."

Ino smiled at the news. "Then what are you doing here? You should join him like you always do!"

Liking the idea of pushing the two blind lovebirds together, Reena jumped in.

"That's an awesome idea! I heard the full moon is amazing tonight. Why not check it out with him?"

Sora looked evilly at her best friend who replied with an innocent smile. Then thinking about the matter, she decided that it would be nice to take some fresh air. There were really a lot of people tonight, more than at Sakura's party quite surprisingly. With a nod she left, leaving the other two girls together. While they watched their friend leave, Choji showed up.

"Hey, what are you two doing?" he asked while eating a plate of what seemed like cake.

"Oh, just chatting!" said Ino happily. Her plan was going well. Sora and Shikamaru were going to spend some, what she hoped to be, romantic time together.

"Cool! Have you seen Shikamaru?"

"Yeah, he's at the usual place. You know, the roof," the blonde girl answered.

"Awesome, I'll go see him!" he said walking in the direction that led to the roof.

At the exact same time, both girls grabbed him by one of his shoulders and pulled him back while shouting:

"No!"

Then realizing what happened, they looked wide eyes at each other. At that moment, they both understood what the other knew.

"No way... You mean, she...?" started Ino.

Reena nodded vigorously her head with a huge smile. For once, she was happy to be in in this kind of secret. Choji looked at the two of them in confusion.

"Shikamaru's right. You women are really hard to get..."

The two girls simply laughed, overjoyed by the fact that what Sora and Shikamaru had for each other was reciprocal.

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><p>Going up the stairs, Sora noticed someone standing in the darkness of the hallway leading to an open door that led to the roof.<p>

"Naru...?"

But she was cut off by the boy that jumped on her and covered her mouth.

"Shhh!" he said with a finger covering his own mouth.

When she nodded, he let go of her. Then quietly, he motioned for her to follow him near the opened door. Getting closer, she heard Shikamaru.

"So what was so important that we had to speak quietly?"

"I had something really important to tell you," said another voice which Sora recognized as Temari's.

The girl's heart sunk. Not only was Shikamaru not alone, he was with Temari, out of all people.

"Sure, what is it?" he asked.

"Well..." started Temari but then stopped in hesitation. After a few seconds, she finally said: "it's hard to explain. I think it's better if I show you."

And everything went quiet. Curiosity took over the duo that was hiding on the other side of the opened door. Slowly, they leaned over to look. There, on the roof, they saw Temari and Shikamaru kissing. Sora quickly backed up, covering her mouth. At that precise moment, her heart shattered in many pieces. She closed her eyes, cursing herself mentally about her stupidity. If she hadn't wasted time with Daichi, she maybe would have gotten a chance with the one she had truly loved all this time. Naruto stared at the girl curiously as she turned around and ran away from the scene. All she could think of was how maybe he had never been interested in her anyways.

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><p>Sitting on the side with Sakura, and Ino, Reena saw Naruto walk around, clearly confused. She got up and went to see him.<p>

"Hey! Where have you been? You've been missing out on your own party."

"Oh, I was hiding on the roof."

Reena got angry.

"Were you spying on Sora and Shikamaru?"

"Not exactly," answered the boy while scratching his head.

As Sakura and Ino walked closer, Naruto explained:

"I went up there because I was interested by the fact that Shikamaru went up there with Temari..."

"No way!" said Sakura surprised.

"What happened?" asked urgently Ino.

"Well Sora arrived and almost gave my position away but thankfully I stopped her in time. Then we both stayed there to spy on the two on the roof and..." he stopped hesitating.

"And what?" asked the blonde girl sharply.

"Well we saw them kiss. Sora seemed really upset by it and she left..." he continued.

"That damn bastard!" shouted out angrily Ino while walking toward the stairs to go up.

Reena looked urgently at Sakura who nodded in understanding and went after Ino. Better not let her kill her teammate. The white hair girl then stared at the blonde boy.

"What happened after she left?"

"Huh? How do you know there's more?"

"Naruto...you'd be smiling proudly right now if there wasn't more."

"Fine. After Sora left, they finally broke their kiss. Then Shikamaru apologized and told her that he had already feelings for someone else. I left after he said that."

Reena sighed relieved.

"Thanks, I need to go and find Sora. You stay at your party now, okay?"

When her teammate nodded, she turned around and ran outside. Once she was out in the fresh air, she concentrated her chakra to her nose to track down her friend by smell.

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><p>Walking in the hallway leading toward the roof, Ino, with Sakura running behind her, crossed Temari at who she looked angrily. However, Temari only answered with a sad smile which Ino didn't notice through her fury. When the two girls reached the roof, they found Shikamaru standing, arms crossed, and looking up at the full moon.<p>

"Shikamaru Nara! How dare you do that!" spat out angrily Ino.

The boy turned around confused.

"Just what are you talking about?"

"You kissed _Temari_!" the blonde girl replied, spitting out the name.

"Wait, I didn't kiss her. She kissed me!" he tried to defend himself for some unknown reason.

"And what difference does it make?" kept yelling Ino.

"Ino, what the hell do you want?"

"I thought you loved Sora!"

"I do!"

Finally understanding the situation, Sakura, behind them said:

"Oh..."

Shikamaru looked at her.

"Oh what?"

"You're an idiot! That's what!" shouted out Ino.

"Sora saw you kiss Temari..." explained softly Sakura. While her friend was enraged, she could only feel sad for Sora.

Shikamaru froze at the revelation. He then carefully asked:

"What difference does it make to her?"

His question set off Ino even more.

"Oh for the love of god! Stop being stupidly blind! Sora had had this crush on you for the longest time! She loves you Shikamaru! But now she thinks that you're with Temari and you don't give a flying damn about her!"

"But I told Temari that I love someone else," tried to resonate the boy.

"If I understood properly, she left before you did tell her that," said Sakura.

"Shit," was all could mumble the boy in his despair.

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><p>Up her favorite hill, in the dark, Sora was quietly sitting in the grass, looking thoughtfully at the lights emitting from Konoha. She felt sad and broken but didn't have the courage to shed any tears. After what happened with Daichi, she no longer saw a reason for why she should cry anymore.<p>

Behind her, Reena appeared at her signature speed.

"There you are," she softly said, knowing how her friend currently felt.

"Hey…" Sora simply mumbled.

The white hair girl sat down quietly beside her friend and watched over Konoha.

"So… I heard what happened," started Reena.

"Okay," simply answered the black hair girl.

"But I think you've missed out on something…" continued her best friend.

"Like what?" the girl asked, clearly discouraged by everything.

"Well… Shikamaru told Temari that he couldn't be with her since he liked someone else."

"Great, now we're one hundred percent sure that he likes someone."

Reena gave an amused look at her best friend who didn't see it as she was too busy ripping little pieces of grass on the ground in front of her. Was she really that blind? Deciding not to reveal the obvious as it was up to the girl to figure it out, the white hair girl went in another direction.

"So what do you plan on doing now?"

Sora looked up and back at Konoha. It was clear that she was trying to make sense of everything that was going on in her head.

"I'm going to concentrate my energy elsewhere," she finally decided.

"Oh?" the white hair girl asked interested.

"Yeah, I'll concentrate on my training from now on. Will you help me?" Sora said, now looking at her friend.

Reena gave her a confused look. "What do you need my help with?"

"We'll I know that you're really good with Genjutsus and I've been working on some on my own time but I need to practice it with someone. With your abilities, I know that you can help me work through it! Beside, you're a jounin!"

With a sigh, Reena lied down on her back, looking up at the stars. After thinking a few minutes of thinking about whether she should encourage this new change of behavior, she decided that becoming stronger can't really hurt.

"I don't have anything plan for tomorrow, so let's go one day at a time. We can meet in the morning. I'll even pick you up if you want but please don't mention how I am a jounin again. I don't like being seen always above of the others around me."

"Deal!" shouted happily Sora. "Pick me up at my place at around nine or ten tomorrow?"

The white hair girl got up on her elbows and looked at her best friend.

"Aren't you staying at Shikamaru's?"

"I am but it's obvious that Daichi won't go after me again, so I decided I'm moving back tomorrow morning."

Reena bit her tongue. She wanted to ask her friend if she had made her decision based on what happened tonight but decided not to ruin her newly found happiness.

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><p><strong>And that's it! I'll still be doing weekly updates for a bit but in a few weeks, the updates will become sporadic. Make sure to follow this story in order to know when I post a new chapter!<strong>

**Share the love, write a review! 3**


	19. Training

**And here is another weekly update! Enjoy!**

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><p>After the heated discussion that he had with Ino and Sakura at the party, Shikamaru ran directly home, thinking that he would find Sora there. He felt the urge of trying to explain everything to her. When he arrived and realize that she wasn't there, he decided to wait in his room until she would come back. While waiting for her, he tried to build up his courage so he could finally tell her how he really felt about her. However, about an hour before Sora came home, the boy fell asleep, exhausted from the night's events.<p>

When the girl came back to Shikamaru's house, she was filled with a new determination of becoming stronger. Concentrating her effort on becoming a better ninja simply made her think about something else than her heartache. She was determined to make this work and determination eventually led to an excitement that kept her up all night. When the sun came up, she started moving around her room quickly, packing her things up.

Walking out of the room, she noticed that both Shikamaru's parents were already up. Shikaku seemed very surprised when he saw the girl walking out with all her things packed.

"Leaving us?" he asked with a smile.

She bowed in front of the two that were sitting at the table.

"Yes and I am eternally grateful for your hospitality."

"Dear, if you ever need to come back for another few days then do certainly feel free to do so!" said the woman.

"Thank you, I will keep that in mind," the girl replied with a smile.

"Do you want me to wake up Shikamaru so he can walk you back to your place?" asked Shikaku.

The girl felt a spark of panic inside her.

"Oh no, no! I will be fine! I'm extremely sure that Daichi will keep his distances!" she urgently explained.

The two adults looked at each other and then, somewhat satisfied, they nodded in the girl's direction who bowed once more gratefully. Walking quickly outside, as if afraid that Shikamaru would end up waking up before she left, she tightened her grip on her bags and dashed toward her house. Not too long after, the girl was already at her house. She walked in a bit hesitantly. This was the first time since the incident that she was back and she couldn't help but go check out her living room. Surprisingly, someone had taken the time to clean everything up so there was no sign anymore of what happened. With a little relieved sigh, Sora brought her things to her room. It's only while waiting for Reena to come pick her up that she realized that she was supposed to meet her team for training today.

Quickly looking at the time, she decided that she still had enough time to swing by her sensei's place before Reena arrived. She ran out of her house and to Asuma's house. Once she reached the front door, she quickly knocked on the door, hoping that he was still there. A wave of relief washed over her when the man opened the door.

"Sora?" he said surprised.

"Good morning, Asuma-sensei!" she chimed happily.

"Good morning to you too. Did you want to come in?"

"No, no! I'm actually in a hurry. I just wanted permission to not come to today's training."

The man looked worried. "Did something happen?"

With a huge smile, she reassured him. "No, it's just that without thinking, I made some training plans which just coincide with our team training today."

"Oh…" the man said unsure. "Well, I guess that since you usually don't miss any our trainings it won't matter for today."

"Great! Thank you! Also, I want to work on my weakest abilities. Did you have any suggestion?"

The man lit himself a cigarette while thinking for a bit.

"I can only think of your taijutsu. If someone manages to get around your ninjutsus, you might be in a bind. But that's why you have a team right?" he said with a smile.

She had then a determined look. "I want to become even stronger to help the others. I don't want them to always have to look after me!" she said.

The man laughed. "Okay, okay! I love your determination! Take as long as you need, a few days even, unless we have a mission, of course. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to come and see me kiddo, okay?"

"Yes! Thank you!" she answered gleefully.

And just as quickly as she had arrived, she was gone. She was growing even more excited. It's only when she got closer to her house did her head travel back to the events of last night. She slowed down her steps to a walk, suddenly depressed. Sora still awfully hated herself for losing him like that. It just seemed like things were going fine so she did not feel the urge to try to push things any further.

Seeing in the distance that her friend was waiting in front of her house, she painted a smile on her face. Tired of always feeling like an emotional burden to others, she wanted to be happy for her best friend.

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><p>Shikamaru woke up slowly. His body was really stiffed from the awkward position he had fallen asleep in. Rubbing his eyes with one hand, he walked out of his room and headed to the dining room. It was when he reached downstairs that he felt like something was off. He turned around and looked behind him as if he would find someone. Not understanding why he felt like this, he decided to go sit at the dining table with his dad regardless.<p>

"Good morning, sunshine."

Shikamaru simply mumbled something that sounded like 'good morning'. Usually, his son's morning grumpiness would have made laughed but not today. He actually stayed serious. He waited till the boy seemed a tad more awake before stating:

"Sora left this morning."

That fully caught Shikamaru's attention. Sitting up straight, he was now fully awake.

"She did? When?"

"Very early this morning, just a bit after your mother and I got up. Would you know why she would have left here prematurely like this?" Shikaku asked strictly.

The kiss he shared with Temari, the heated discussion with Ino… everything came back to the boy. Feeling awfully guilty, he covered his face while murmuring:

"Shit."

After rubbing vigorously his face for a few seconds, he looked up at the time. He just had enough time to get dressed and meet up with his team. He would see Sora and wouldn't have had any time to talk to her beforehand. His stomach clenched at the thought. Without anything more to say to his dad, he got up discouraged and got ready to go out. After grabbing quickly something to eat, he headed out.

He tried to take all his time to get there. He didn't know what to do for Sora. Although he took his sweet time to reach the training ground, he still somehow got there first. For the first time in, well, ever, he was nervous sitting there. However, at his biggest surprise, when Choji arrived last, Asuma declared:

"Alright, we're all here. Let's start!"

"Hey, Sora isn't coming?" asked Choji.

"No, she had other business to attend to," answer their sensei.

Ino gave an angry look at Shikamaru which made him look up at the sky, exasperated. Now he felt like it was his fault for her absence. His team's reaction caught Asuma's attention. Curious, he tried to reflect on his conversation with the black hair girl this morning. She didn't seem upset or anything. She really was just determined to change for the best. So what was going on?

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><p>Walking in the forest behind her house, which belonged to her family, the girls were talking out what they should go over about genjutsu. Through all the talking, Reena suddenly stopped. With a sly smile, she looked at Sora in front of her and said with a light laugh:<p>

"Geez Sora, I'm really wondering why you need my help with genjutsus. You're already darn good at it!"

Sora turned around with a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

Reena closed her eyes and when she reopened them, the pupil was a long slit.

"Oh, you know what I mean."

The black hair girl had now a smirk on her face. "I will gladly take the compliment then!"

And just like that, the girl gradually turned into a thousand dragonflies that flew all around her best friend. Reena turned around to face her friend who was really standing behind her.

"So?" she asked proudly.

"Yeah, for making genjutsus, you won't need any help. You're already darn good at it."

"But…?" asked Sora knowing that the tone that her best friend used meant that there was more.

"But you're going to need to practice recognizing a genjutsu, withstanding it, and break it," explained calmly the white hair girl.

"How can I practice those?"

"Well, isn't that what I'm here for?" Reena asked with a sly smile.

"Uh oh," said Sora, fully knowing that her friend was up to something.

As she saw her surrounding gradually change into darkness and her best friend turn into an extremely terrifying wolf demon, Sora realized that she had been caught in her friend's genjutsu without realizing it. That afternoon of training turned out to be a very long and exhausting one.

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><p>Reena walked up to her friend who was resting on her back. Looking down at her, she reflected on how Sora had made huge progressed in just one afternoon. Genjutsus are obviously not the girl's weakest point and the white hair girl was taking note of that. Taijutsu was what she needed to practice the most and unfortunately, it wasn't something that she could teach her properly.<p>

"Let's go again," mumbled Sora exhausted.

"Oh no princess, we are not. You're beyond exhausted mentally and I really don't want to see you shatter down into pieces. You need to sleep and trust me; you'll sleep it off until, at least, tomorrow!"

"But...more…" tried to argue the black hair girl but it was obvious that her best friend was right.

With a sigh, Reena carefully picked up her friend and headed toward the house. On the way there, as expected, Sora fell asleep. So when they reached her friend's home, the white hair girl was, for once, relieved that she had forgotten yet again to lock her door. She laid her down and her bed and made sure to leave a glass of water on the nightstand just in case. After making sure that the girl would be fine on her own, she walked out of the house and, with a spare key hidden around the corner of the house - a little secret that only she knew, she locked the door to make sure that Sora would be safe.

Just as she was about to leave, she noticed someone in the distance walking toward the house. From the looks of it, the person was really nervous. When he got closer, Reena smiled kindly at the boy.

"I'm sorry Shikamaru, but she's out cold. I don't think you'll be able to talk to her today,"

"Is she okay?" he asked, clearly worried.

"She is. Just exhausted!" she said, trying to cheer him up. "How about we walk back to Konoha together?"

The boy shook his shoulder. "Yeah, why not."

They walked in silence for a few minutes. However, surprisingly, Shikamaru broke the silence.

"You know, I somehow figured that you'd be angry with me or something…"

Reena looked at the boy with an amused expression.

"Should I be?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure Sora told you about what happened last night and I know now that she had feelings for me," he explained, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably. This was still a touchy subject for him.

"Actually, I heard it from…" She hesitated to mention Naruto, not wanting to get him in trouble for this kind of thing, although it would teach him a lesson. "...someone else. And I know the whole story. Every juicy detail, if you know what I mean," she then added with a smile.

"Ino told you?"

"She didn't have to, you're becoming quite obvious."

The boy looked up at the sky thoughtful.

"So you told Sora then?"

"Nope. Only told her that you rejected Temari because you liked someone else. Didn't specify who, though, since it didn't feel fair for you."

Shikamaru looked at the girl in surprise. Sora and Reena always told each other everything. Being friends ever since the academy, as they had no parents, they grew quite close. So the fact that one of them would purposely hide something from the other was quite surprising.

"I need to talk to her tomorrow. I… think it's time for me to admit my feelings for her. I just don't know how to…" the boy said now looking down.

The girl stopped and motioned for him to stop by putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Shikamaru, listen. It can't go wrong, I just know it. Sora had had a growing affection for you ever since you became teammates and that eventually evolved into love. She never had any parents to rely on and, trust me, it's not easy. That's why she only lets so little people get close to her like this. I know this is going to sound stupid and cheesy to you, hell it does to me but, just go with your heart."

Shikamaru stared at Reena for a bit, letting his head process what she had just said. She was right. Although it was nerve racking to let Sora know about his feelings, he also could feel that they were meant to be together. He just hated himself because of how long it took him to realize that. The girl then snapped him out of his thoughts by starting to walk again. Quickly, he went up to her side.

"Also, tomorrow is a no go, sorry," she added.

"Hn? Why's that?" he asked.

"Tomorrow she's going to be busy and exhausted."

"Wait… what have you guys been doing?"

"Intense training, you could say!" she said with a gleeful laugh.

"Ah hell, she really is going crazy about how good of a ninja she is, isn't she?"

"Oh yes she is."

"So, if she's going to be that busy tomorrow, what are you planning?"

With a sly smile, Reena just said mysteriously:

"Let's just say that she's going to get her wish and work on what she's lacking. But she'll be exhausted for quite a few days after that! Also, I have to go now. I need to track down Lee. Remember what I told you, okay?"

When he nodded, she left quite fast, leaving Shikamaru lost in his thoughts.

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><p><strong>This is it! I'll post the next chapter hopefully next monday.<strong>

**Share the love, write a review!**


	20. Revelations

**Hi everyone, sorry for being a little bit late! I'm going to slow down soon with the updates to give me time to write more chapters...**

**And for the moment that everyone has been waiting for...**

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><p>First off, Sora hadn't expected to sleep all the way till the next morning like her friend had warned her. In fact, the first thing she knew, someone was knocking on her door. While walking toward the door, she realized that it was already ten o'clock, the next morning. The second thing that she didn't expect was for Reena to change her plans. When she opened the door, not only did she find her best friend but also someone else: Lee.<p>

"Good morning beautiful maiden! Your eyes, which reflect the infinite sky, are shining like thousands of suns today!" the boy in a green jumpsuit shouted.

Only half awake and confused as hell, Sora's sole reaction was to motion for them to come in. When she shut the door, Lee went in the living room on his left and Reena turned around with a huge smile.

"Slept well?"

"Mmmyes. I think," mumbled Sora, still waking up.

"Good! Because today, Lee and I will work on your taijutsu!"

Now fully awake, the black hair girl looked at her friend in surprise.

"Why the sudden switch? Weren't we working on genjutsu?"

"No need to do that. From what I could see yesterday, you don't need much training on that. Beside, you said you wanted to work on your weak point, right? Then you need to work on your taijutsu."

Sora opened her mouth to argue but then closed it again, fully knowing that the white hair girl had a point.

"Beside, you learn fast so might as well learn from the best!" continued gleefully Reena.

Sora sighed. "Just let me go get ready…"

As fast as she could, she got ready, went to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast and headed outside with the other two. When walking outside, she asked:

"So which training ground are we going to train in today?"

"We will train here!" shouted out excitedly Lee.

"Why here?" asked the girl.

"This place is perfect! It is wide and clear and has such a beautiful view of everything!" he explained, still in a loud voice.

As Reena had planned, the training burned Sora to the core. However, it was completely worth it. She saw how, at first, the black hair girl was discouraged as she couldn't keep up with Lee who was extremely fast. Little by little, she started blocking one hit, here and there, by following very closely Lee's tedious tips and tricks. Reena had also given her what Lee called some cheating tricks. All she really thought her, however, was how to use her chakra to help her not only move faster but hit harder too. Toward the end, Sora even managed to land a hit but the white hair girl wondered if Lee hadn't been distracted by Sakura's arrival.

When the pink hair girl arrived in the late afternoon and Sora sent Lee a few steps back, Reena called for a break. While the two comfortably settled under a tree, Sakura and her talked privately a bit further. Turns out that team 7, with the exception of Kakashi, at Reena's disappointment, was chosen as one of the few teams to help deal with the missing nins that have been wreaking havoc between Konoha and Suna. The two had to go to see the Hokage for more information on how they would arrange their meet up with the sand ninjas. When Reena turned around to tell her best friend that she had to leave, she realized that Sora was sound asleep against a tree. She smiled, knowing full well from experience that she would be sore for a few days.

With Sakura's and Lee's help, they brought her inside the house and in her room. Once they settled her down, Reena found some paper and a pen, and wrote her an elaborated letter on how she had to leave for a mission, which also meant that Sora needed to rest as much as possible for a few days and eat lots of protein for her muscles. When she was satisfied, they all left, making sure to lock the door behind them.

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><p>That day, Shikamaru kept himself as busy as possible by hanging out with Choji but even his best friend could tell that he was distracted. By habit, the black hair boy was trying to plan out how tomorrow would go. He soon came to realize that he couldn't plan these kinds of things, unlike missions or even fights.<p>

The next day, Shikamaru headed to Sora's house toward noon with the only excuse he could come up with: play a shōgi game. He was surprised though by how he ended up waking up the girl when he knocked on the door. It took several minutes for her to open the door as she had all the trouble in the world with getting out of bed. Not only was she sore, her body was hurting everywhere that Lee had landed a hit. But to top it all off, when she opened the door, her heart dropped at the sight of the boy. She had been so distracted recently that she had come to forget about everything else. The sight of him brought it all back.

"Hey," she greeted him dryly.

"Hey, you free today?" asked the boy.

She looked up at the time to realize that it was noon, meaning that if Reena had plan anything today, she would have already been there.

"Yes," she lied quickly.

Shikamaru tilted his head, knowing that the girl was lying.

"Oh? And with what?" he asked, deciding to push the matter further.

"I'm meeting Reena..." she continued lying.

Shikamaru smiled knowingly. "Funny because Reena left on a mission last night. Guess that means you're free then! Want to play shōgi with me? It's been a while!"

Sora bit her lip, hating herself, but also stared at the boy in wonder. Something was strange about his attitude today. She took a deep breath, knowing full well that she shouldn't hold it against him for loving someone. Finally, she let out:

"Fine, come in..."

Without a word but with a sly smile, he walked in and she closed the door behind him. After he went in the living room, she told him:

"Let me go take a shower and get ready. We can play after if you want."

Once he nodded, she left for her room. As she walked in, she saw the letter that Reena had left on her night table. Shikamaru had been right; her best friend was gone on a mission again. Sora scratched her head while thinking about how her team was getting fewer missions than others and wondered about the reason. After reading all the instructions, she slowly and painfully walked in her shower and got ready. Once she was all dressed, she somewhat quickly went to her kitchen and cooked an omelette in order to eat some proteins. When she was almost done, a voice behind her made her jump.

"Smells good."

She turned around and saw Shikamaru standing in the dining room with his shōgi board.

"Thanks," she mumbled. "Want some tea while I eat breakfast?"

"Sure."

When everything was ready, she brought it all to her table and they settled down.

"Did you want to settle on my back balcony like last time?" she asked between two bites.

"Actually, I was wondering if you'd like to go settle out more in nature. Maybe that place on the hill that you like so much?"

She nodded, not seeing any reasons to refuse. With his eternal patience, he waited for her to be done her breakfast while sipping his tea. He offered to help her clean but she politely refused. Soon enough, they headed to Sora's and now Shikamaru's favorite spot. The girl looked up at the cloudy sky. The sun was clearly hiding somewhere. The boy was more busy thinking about how he felt like somehow it'd be less awkward to talk to her about his feelings out there but it bugged him how he still didn't know how he'd cover the matter or even introduce it to begin with. Deeply lost in his thoughts, he was surprised by how fast they arrived at their spot.

Without a word, he quickly settled down with the game he's been carrying around and quickly prepared it. All the while, Sora slowly took her spot, watching Shikamaru in wonder. Something was clearly weighing on his mind and she started wishing that she could help him talk it out. She wondered if he was thinking about his crush but quickly pushed the thought away. She didn't want to let these thoughts ruin her friendship with him. If the best she could have was having him as a friend then she would still be happy. At least, that's what she tried to convince herself.

The game started. All throughout, they stayed silent not peeping a word. This heavy silence continue for a very long time as Sora tried to build the best strategy she could while the boy struggled with finding a way to introduce the subject he wanted to cover.

Much further in the game, Shikamaru did a move which left Sora dumbfounded. She looked at him with wide eyes to see if he realized what he did. Noticing how she wasn't making a move, the boy looked up and was confused by the look she was giving him.

"What?" he asked.

"Are you letting me win or are you really THAT distracted?" she replied, seeming a tad insulted by the first possibility.

Unsure what she was talking about, he looked down at the board and studied the pieces. _Well shoot_, he thought. He really was in a bad position. He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably as he realized what was happening.

"Wow, I guess I really was not paying attention..." he mumbled, not sure what else to say.

She sighed. "Why did you bother me with playing a shōgi game when you're obviously not interested in playing it?"

He looked at her, searching for what to say. His tongue was burning with the desire of spilling everything out but, even though Ino had told him that Sora liked him, he was still filled with the fear of being rejected. While he struggled with what to say, the girl looked at him worried. Whatever was bugging him seemed like a huge deal.

"Shikamaru? We can play another time if you're not feeling up to this..." she told him, now feeling a bit bad by the way she had snapped at him before.

He snapped out of his daze and upon seeing her expression, he put on a smirk and said:

"I bet even now I can still beat you."

She smiled back. "It's on!"

Today, the girl learned that even in a bad situation, Shikamaru still had the amazing ability to win. He had to sacrifice a lot of his pieces and take a brand new strategy but at the end, he still won.

"What the hell!" she shouted out in frustration. "I was clearly winning!"

"You were too drunk on what you thought was your victory," he offered as an explanation.

Slightly offended, she crossed her arms and pouted. The sight of her acting like this made him laugh which surprised the girl. She then smiled, happy that somehow she seemed to have made him feel better. Seeing her smile sweetly, Shikamaru's heart skipped a beat. Picking up all his courage, the boy opened his mouth, determined to tell her everything. However, he barely had the time to say "Sora" that he stopped when he noticed her suddenly looking up at the sky.

She blinked in surprise as another water drop crashed on her face. _Crap_. She quickly got up.

"We need to go, it's raining!"

The boy swore under his breath as more water drops came crashing down on them. He got up and, with Sora's help, he quickly packed up the game. By the time they had everything ready to go, it was now pouring hard.

"Come on! Your house is closer! Let's head there!" shouted out Shikamaru.

They started running in the right direction but Sora soon had slow down. Her sore body was screaming in pain as she was asking too much from it. It took a few minutes for the boy to notice this and, although it annoyed him to be soaked like this, he slowed down as he did not want to leave her behind.

When they finally reached her house, they got in quickly and the girl closed the door behind them. Seeing how silly they both looked made Sora burst out in laughter. She never thought that they'd be caught in a storm without ever planning on at least bringing an umbrella or something.

Her laughter lighten up Shikamaru's mood as he had been feeling gloomy by how soaked they were. He put down the shōgi game.

"Well it might dry off fast, but we won't..." he told the girl as he lifted one arm where more water dripped off.

"No worries, I'll go grab towels and it will be all fine!" she said in a surprisingly cheerful tone.

Normal people would have hated the feeling of being caught in such heavy rain but in her case, it made her feel happy. She quickly left the entrance hallway, motioning for Shikamaru to follow her. Down a hallway on the right, she opened a closet door near her bathroom and the two rooms of the house and took out a couple of towels. She handed one to the boy who immediately started drying himself. In the process, he pulled down his hair in order to take the water out of them. The girl was dazed by the view and a light tone of pink appeared on her face.

"Geez. I'm going to need to at least hang this up to dry it," he mumbled, now looking at his shirt while trying to take the water out of it.

Sora quickly turned away and headed to her room while saying awkwardly:

"I might have something for you to change in..."

She started looking through her things in a wardrobe while trying to take out of her head the image of a shirtless Shikamaru. The more it stuck in her head, the more she could feel her face warm up. Finally, she took out the two pieces of clothing that she was looking for and walked back at the boy who looked at her curiously.

"Here. They were my father's, so they should fit you," she said while looking away from him.

Oblivious to her strange way of acting, he took the clothing and looked at it.

"Yeah, I think it will."

He then went in the washroom to get changed while Sora told him that he could hang his clothing in the shower and waited patiently outside. After a few minutes, he came out wearing dark blue sweat pants and a black turtle neck sweater which were just a little bit loose on him.

"Thank you," he told her knowing how important these clothes must be for her considering how they used to be her father's.

"You're welcome. Want some tea to warm up?" she asked.

"Sure, after you get changed," he said while crossing his arms.

The girl looked down to realize that she was still wearing her soaking wet clothing that stuck to her like a second skin. She shook her shoulder.

"I'll be fine, it will dry off."

"No, you'll get a cold if stay in wet clothing."

Truth was, seeing her in soaking wet clothing made her body a tad too revealing to him, which of course woke some new feelings in him.

She pulled out her tongue at him childishly. "Well I'm not fussy about being in wet clothing like you so I'm fine."

Thinking she had the final word, she turned around and started heading for the kitchen.

"Oh no, you are not staying in this!"

She yelled out in surprise as she felt an arm grab her around her waist and another lift her under her knees. Afraid to fall down, she wrapped her arms around his neck and shouted:

"Shikamaru! Let me down this instant!"

"You troublesome woman! You are going to get change, end of story. Don't make me force you to change your clothes too!" he told her while bringing her bridal style in her room.

He then slowly dropped her down on her bed and, when he started getting up, he realized how close he was to Sora's face, who was still holding her arms around his neck. He stopped his movement and looked into her sky blue eyes. Hypnotized, he realized that he couldn't take it anymore. With his hands on each side of her head, he slowly leaned down and gently pressed his lips against hers. Backing up a bit, he looked at her, worried that she would freak out about his kiss. He first saw her eyes widen in surprise but a glorious smile quickly appeared on her face. Happy, he leaned back down and started kissing her again. She gladly opened her lips when he asked permission with his tongue. He quickly explored the inside of her mouth, tasting the sweet victory of finally being able to show her how he felt. Their kiss grew more passionate as he deepened it, filled with the need to have her.

When she felt one of his hand traveled from her head down to her belly, a feeling of panic filled her. Gently but firmly, she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back. Realizing his mistake, Shikamaru quickly pulled back and sat on the bed beside her while breathing heavily. Of course, this was going too fast for her, especially after what she experienced with Daichi. How could he have forgotten about that?

When Sora sat up, she started feeling guilty. "I-I'm sorry..." she mumbled.

The boy looked at her softly.

"Hey, don't apologize. I understand. I actually should be the one apologizing for rushing it like that."

Sora bit her lip, unsure what to say or do. It was obvious that she was happy about Shikamaru's feelings for her but didn't know what to do. Seeing this, the boy decided to take matters in his own hands and try to lighten up the mood.

"How about you get changed and I make tea? I'm pretty sure I remember where all the things are in your kitchen."

"Uh, sure…" she answered while trying not to sound awkward.

Once closed the door as he left, she gently touched her lips with her right hand. All this time, she had been jealous and angry at the thought that Shikamaru could have liked someone else but, at the end, he really liked her and her only. It was almost too good to be true but she had no doubt left after the kiss they had shared. She must have stayed a long time lost in her thoughts because she jumped when she heard a knock on her door and the boy say:

"Hey, I did some tea. Can I come in with it?"

"Ah! Not yet! I'm almost done!" she answered loudly.

Quickly, she ran around and swiftly changed herself in some dry clothing. When she felt ready, she opened the door to let the boy in. He went straight for her night table and settled down a little tray with all the tea accessories on it. Afterward, he turned and looked at Sora with a smile. When she returned his smile, he knew that she didn't hold it against him for what happened. Even better, it made him happy to see how she seemed happy about his quiet revelation.

A sudden roll of thunder made the two of them jump. Only a few seconds after they heard the storm, all the lights went out in the house.

"Shoot! Now there's no more electricity!" Sora said in a weak voice.

"Do you have any candles we can use?" asked the boy.

"Yeah... They're at the top of the closet, where I took out the towels from."

"Good, I'll go get some."

As he turned around to leave, another crack of thunder was heard over their head. In the process, Sora screamed a little bit and involuntary jumped toward Shikamaru who wrapped his arms around her in surprise.

"Don't leave, please!" she pleaded.

"Sora... You're afraid of thunder?"

Before she could answer, there was another crack of thunder. She quickly hid her face. Now that Shikamaru stopped and thought back, he had never seen the girl around when there was a storm. Somehow, she had always managed to hide herself from everyone during those time.

"Come here..." he softly whispered in her ear while leading her to her bed.

When they were comfortably settled, Sora remembered about the tea the boy had made. She looked in the direction of the tray. Seeing this, the boy shook his head and said:

"Forget about the tea. If you jump while you're holding it, you'll spill it everywhere and burn yourself. If you're cold, just wrap yourself under the blankets."

As he stayed closed to her to reassure her, Shikamaru realized that this day had been filled with revelations. Finally showing Sora his true feelings for her felt like a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders and that made him happy.

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><p><strong>And that is it! Hoped everyone liked it!<strong>

**Share the love, write a review!**


	21. Scroll

All of yesterday had seemed like a dream to Sora but when she woke up next to Shikamaru, who had fallen asleep while holding her, she realized that it was all true. Very slowly, in a way to not wake him up, she creped out of bed. Once she successfully managed to stand up, she silently walked out of her room and headed into her kitchen. The girl felt light hearted and decided to cook breakfast while humming. It really seemed like nothing could bring her down.

When the boy woke up, he could smell that something good was cooking. Walking in the kitchen and watching the girl work her magic made him smile. All the fears he had about admitting his feelings for Sora flew away. When she brought two plates at the table and they sat down to eat, he was delighted to see that the plate tasted just as good as it smelled. They were both surprised by how it was easy to do some small talk. It would seem that both of them were afraid that it would be awkward but after what happened yesterday, things seemed to be going smoother than usual.

Finally it was decided that Shikamaru should head home to get a change of clothing and Sora happily offered to accompany him. Soon enough, they headed out together, both enjoying a peaceful silence, and everything just was as it always was. As they were walking through town, someone called out for the girl.

"Excuse me, miss."

Confused, the duo stopped and Sora turned around to see that someone was indeed talking to her.

"Um, yes?"

The man bowed with a huge smile.

"I'm sorry to bother you miss but I couldn't help but notice that fascinating dragonfly symbol on your sleeve!"

The girl raised her left hand to her right sleeve at the mention of her family crest.

"Ah, yes. This is my family symbol!" said the girl proudly.

"Oh? You're family? What is your family's name?" asked the man who seemed overly interested.

Shikamaru looked at the man carefully. He had seen him somewhere and was trying to remember where.

"I'm from the Tonbo family, sir."

"Ah? So interesting..." the man said thoughtfully. Then coming back to reality, he bowed once more. "Thank you dear miss. I really appreciate your attention!"

"It was no problem, really!"

As quickly as he came, the man left through the crowd. Shikamaru looked at Sora who stood there, looking thoughtful.

"Something bothering you?" he asked her.

"Yeah...that guy. He's the fake scroll merchant I think," she said while furrowing her eyebrows.

"The fake scroll merchant?"

She turned and faced him with a serious expression.

"Yeah, I first saw him a while ago with Reena and..."

But her explanations were cut off by a certain blonde hair girl that came running up to them.

"Sora! I'm so happy to see you!"

The black hair girl turned around and looked at her in surprise. Why would Ino be so excited to see her? Shikamaru stared at her skeptically.

"I'm happy to see you too...?" said Sora, confused.

"I need your help with something important. Will you help me?" asked Ino.

"Sure? With what?"

"I'll explain it on the way there, come on!"

"I'm coming too," said Shikamaru.

"Oh no, you are not. It's a girl thing. It'd be embarrassing if you came along with us!" said the blonde girl.

The boy sighed in defeat. Seeing this, Sora smiled encouragingly.

"How about I meet you after?" she asked him.

The boy scratched his head. "Sure. I think I'll go see sensei for another game of shōgi. Meet me at his place?" he said while showing his board game.

The girl nodded and as soon as she did, Ino started dragging her away. Sora had just enough time to give one last worried look at the boy before losing sight of him. Soon enough, they reached a tea place where Ino asked for a table for both of them. When they sat down, Sora asked Ino:

"Ino... I thought you said you needed help with something important, a girl thing if I may add."

"Silly Sora, it was an excuse to have you all to myself! Now, we have important things to discuss!"

While the clerk brought them both the tea pot they had ordered, the black hair girl stared at her friend, worried. This was going to be a girl talk and she hated those. After taking a sip of her hot beverage, Ino spoke up.

"Okay, so I don't know any other way to say this so I'll get straight the point," started Ino before stopping a few seconds, as if to add suspense. "Shikamaru likes you."

"Mmhmm," Sora answered before taking a sip of her own hot beverage.

Her lack of reaction almost threw Ino off her chair. "Sora! Aren't you more excited than this about his feelings for you?"

The black hair girl didn't understand what her friend was getting at. "Well… I already know about his feelings for me."

Ino studied her face. "Wait… so he finally had the guts to tell you?"

A light blush of pink appeared on Sora's cheeks. "Well, not tell…"

"Oooooh?" said Ino while leaning forward on the table. "Tell me all about it!"

That's when Sora realized that she shot herself in the foot with her answer. With a sigh, she answered: "He kissed me. Well, we kissed."

The black hair girl was staring down at her tea. As she thought back to yesterday, her face heated up.

"And?"

"Uh, well that's it."

Ino looked at her teammate in a funny way.

"That's it? You guys said nothing about it? Didn't do anything?"

"Well, it was becoming a bit too intense and panicked because it brought back memories of what happened with Daichi," explained Sora while pointing to the light bruise that remained beside her eye, "so I pushed him off lightly."

Ino sat back in her chair while rubbing her face with both hands.

"Oh no," mumbled the girl.

"What?" asked Sora, now worried.

"You didn't talk about it at all after?"

"No?" answered the black hair girl, more confused than ever.

"He didn't say the magical three words?"

"Magical three words?"

"I love you."

"No…"

"Sora… he took that as a rejection. When you push a guy off while he's kissing you, that means to him that you don't want him."

Sora sat there silently, looking at her friend to see if she was serious. When she realized that Ino didn't seem to be joking, she started to think back in panic. Things had seemed normal. Shikamaru hadn't looked like he was hurt or anything. Everything was just like they always were.

"We were okay afterwards and he didn't seem like he took it as rejection…"

"We're talking about Shikamaru, dear. He's not the most emotional guy we know, right? He probably just tried to fix things by acting like nothing happened."

Doubts filled the girl. She didn't know what to think.

"What should I do…?"

"For now, you don't want to make things worse. So just let things go like they are right now and eventually you'll be able to talk about it. Just not now."

Sora stood up and shakingly took her wallet out. After putting her share of the money on the table, she said to her friend:

"I need to go. I'll talk to you… next time."

Ino, who understood how her friend felt, nodded in compassion. Sora turned around and started to quickly walk away while wrapping her arms around herself. The more she thought back, the more she was afraid that she had screwed up. By the time she had reached Asuma's place, she was incredibly miserable. As promised, Shikamaru was playing with his sensei on the back balcony. When he saw the girl walked in, he noticed right away her expression.

"You ok?"

The girl, remembering Ino's suggestion, simply nodded.

"I'm happy that you're here, Sora. There was actually something I needed to talk to you privately about after this game," declared Asuma with a big smile.

With a weak smile, the girl sat down nearby and watched the two men play their game. As expected, Shikamaru won the game despite Asuma's best efforts. There really seemed like there was no way to beat him. When they were done and Asuma got up to go in with Sora, Shikamaru asked her:

"Hey, did you want me to wait for you? We could go find Choji afterwards."

"Um, sure. Well, if you want, of course," she answered while rubbing her right arm.

After he nodded, she turned around and walked in. Shikamaru stayed there, thoughtful. If Sora was feeling the way she was then Ino must have said something to upset her and he was determined to talk with the black hair girl about it.

Once they were inside, Asuma motioned for Sora to take a seat in the living room and wait there while he left to go get something. It took several minutes before he came back with a dusty wooden box. He took the time to slowly sit down comfortably in front of the girl.

"So your birthday is coming up very shortly and since we never know if we will be called on a mission or something like that, I decided to give you this today," he started while putting the box down a the little table that separated them.

Sora stared down curiously at the box. She had never seen it before. When the man told her to open it, she lifted the lid and saw a silver scroll lay at the bottom. She looked up at Asuma in confusion. He smiled to her.

"Your mother left me with this when she passed away. She told me to give it to you when I judged that you'd be ready and I think that now you are."

Hypnotized by the scroll, Sora picked it up and slowly opened it. Inside, she recognized her mother's writing and images that she once saw her draw. There were a lot of things written down, mostly combat and water jutsu related. Asuma continued his explanation:

"At a certain time during her teenage years, your mother was called in a mission near Kirigakure, the Hidden Mist village. When her mission failed and two of her teammates were killed, she successfully managed to escape with some serious injuries. Her only teammate dragged her as far as they could get until they ran into a man that offered his help. While she was recovering, they discovered that the man was a missing-nin from Kirigakure. Surprisingly, he decided to leave his village in order to help others, and not to kill mercilessly like most of the missing-nins tend to do. Your mother took this opportunity to learn from this man and wrote all her knowledge in this roll. She knew that your chakra element type was water so wanted you to be able to learn what she had the chance to learn that time."

Sora kept reading the scroll.

"This is amazing…" mumbled the girl. "She even wrote on how to create the water needed in a jutsu from thin air. I never would have thought about that!"

Asuma laughed happily.

"Your mother wasn't considered a genius for no reason!"

But at this point, the girl was only half listening. Completely absorbed by what she was reading, she barely noticed Asuma smiling softly at her new found happiness. The more she grew, she more he found that she resembled her mother. He let her read and explore the scroll for a very long time but at a certain point, seeing how he had to meet Kurenai soon, he had to bring her back to reality by telling her that he had to leave. She simply nodded and carefully rolled the scroll to put it in her back pouch, determined to read it later at her house in peace.

When they walked outside, they found Shikamaru laying on his back and watching the sky while waiting for Sora. The girl's smile quickly faded away. She had temporarily forgotten about her previous worries. After saying goodbye to Asuma, they both left together, walking in silence for a bit. As they got closer to Choji's house, Shikamaru decided to try talking it out.

"So what's on your mind?"

Sora looked away. "Nothing, really."

Walking a tad faster, the boy placed himself in front of her to face her, forcing her to stop.

"Sora… you know that by now I can tell when you're lying. Did something happen with Ino?"

"I just… don't want to talk about it," she told him, finally looking at him.

He could see how something was really bothering her and wanted to help her. However, she wasn't willing to let him help. He sighed in defeat.

"Are you sure? If you change your mind, you know I'm here."

"Yes! But whatever I say or do, I always screw things up! So it won't change a damn thing!" she started shouting out of the blue.

Her sudden outburst left the boy dumbstruck. His surprised expression just frustrated the girl more with herself. Seeing that he was out of words, she turned around and decided to go home.

"Sora! Wait!" called Shikamaru.

But she didn't wait for him. Instead, she started to run. She was so afraid of messing up with anything else that she decided that she was better off alone. Soon enough, she reached her house. When she opened the door, she was too upset with herself to realize that she had forgotten to lock the door again.

She slammed the door behind her and walked in her living room. Why did she have to mess up everything? Trying not to cry, she didn't notice the presence behind her until she finally felt a hand grip her arm. Surprised, she turned around and was surprised to see the man to whom she had talked to earlier today: the scroll merchant.

"Where is it?!" he shouted out.

Confused, she tried to break free from his grip but the man tightened it to the point it was becoming painful. The girl used her free arm and punched him squarely in the jaw, making him let her go. Backing up while holding his jaw, the man didn't block Sora's kick which she packed with chakra, making him fly back on the table where all the drawings were. With his fall, he broke the table and paper flew everywhere in the air. Taking advantage of this distraction, the girl grabbed a smoke bomb from her back pouch and threw it on the ground. While there was smoke everywhere, she used her knowledge of her own house and ran for the front door. When she opened the door, however, she was sent back flying by another man, that was outside, who punched her in her stomach. She slid back in the smoke and, when she got up, she guessed that she was closed to her kitchen. Deciding to take an alternative route, she ran down the nearby hallway and headed for her room. When she ran through it, she realized how upside down everything was. These men, whoever they were, were looking for something.

She jumped out of the window and silently hid herself on the side of the wall of the house. Unable to locate the second man, the girl hoisted herself on the roof of the house and crawling around on it, went to the front of the house. There, she could see the man waiting for the smoke inside the house to clear up. She backed up a bit, grabbed a kunai knife and wrapped an explosive tag around the handle. When she was ready to make a run for it, she let the kunai fall on the edge of the roof where she last saw the man and made it explode. During the explosion, she ran toward the village. Whoever these men were, she'd be able to hide from them in the village itself. There, they wouldn't be able to openly attack her and she would be able to reach the Hokage's building.

Running at top speed, she looked up quickly at the sky to notice that the sun was almost down. This wasn't good. Somehow, she couldn't read the two men's presence and in the dark, it would be near impossible to see them coming! At that thought, she tried to go even faster. Despite her best effort, the men had caught up to her. She barely managed to avoid a strangely shaped kunai knife that flew near her face, cutting her cheek on the way. When she turned around to face them, she was surprised to notice that there were now three of them.

"Running from us is completely useless, girl," said the new arrival.

"What do you want?" she shouted out.

She was trying to buy time and calculate how far she was from the center of the village where she could get help.

"We want Akemi Tonbo's scroll. The secrets hidden in there do not belong in the Hidden Leaf, even less in the hands of a Tonbo!" shouted out the one whom Sora recognized as the scroll merchant.

The girl felt a spark of anger light up in her. She had finally gotten her hands on something that was her mother's and now they wanted to take it away!

"I don't know where it is," she replied before biting the tip of her thumb, sign that she was thinking of an alternative plan.

"Oh?" the second man, who had attacked her at her front door, said. He then made a smile that gave chills to the girl. "You know what I hate? Liars."

Before the man could do anything, Sora grabbed another kunai knife and ran toward him. As she was about to reach him, the third man threw shurikens toward her. With the aid of a substitution jutsu, the girl switched place with a log of wood and then casted a genjutsu in a way that all the men saw was the girl exploding in hundreds of dragonflies as the shurikens hit her. Taking this opportunity, she ran again toward the village. While running, she made a water clone of herself and gave it the silver scroll that these men were after. After nodding in understanding, the clone ran ahead as fast as it could.

Determined to distract these man, the girls made another handsign and produced 11 other clones. They then quickly spread around the three man to circle them. At their surprise, however, the third man, whom by now Sora has determined as the leader, threw another of the weirdly shaped kunai in front of her, the real person. After looking down at the knife that had landed right in front of her, she saw that the man had his eyes closed. He made a step toward her and then at a high rate speed disappeared to then reappear in front of her with a kantana in one hand, ready to take a swing at her head. She barely dodged in time, feeling the sword's blade right above her head and fell backward. Looking up at him, she saw that his eyes were still closed. With a terrible smile, he stabbed the ground, right in between Sora's legs, making her lose her concentration on her genjutsu while still managing to keep her water clones techniques.

"You know, if you had just given us nicely the scroll, maybe we would have let you go with your life," the man first started. Then with a bloodthirsty laugh, he added, "but now my blood is boiling and I just want to know the feeling of ripping you apart."

"Calm down brother. We need her to give us the scroll first," said the second man while walking closer to the girl and ignoring all the water clones.

The clones took advantage of this distraction to attack the men but, at a speed that the girl has rarely witnessed, they were taken care of by the fake scroll merchant. Panicked, Sora tried to get up and run but the third man kicked her back toward the second man who caught her in his arm and with his left hand over her mouth, gave her some pills. He kept his hand there as she struggled to get out of his grasp and not swallow them but, unfortunately, they were the type to melt. When her struggling started to calm down as she started to feel woozy, the man that was holding her threw her on the ground. From behind, she could hear the leader say:

"Whoever thought a simple chuunin could give us that much problem?"

In an ultimate attempt to escape, she tried to crawl away as her surrounding started to spin. A weight on her leg made her stop. With his foot on her leg, one of the men added all his weight until he heard a loud 'snap' and the girl yell in pain.

"Won't be running from us now, will ya?"

The drugs mixed with the pain of her broken leg eventually led the girl to fall unconscious.

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><p>Asuma was walking calmly with an arm around Kurenai. They were busy talking together and barely noticed a much panicked Sora at the man's door. It is only when they got closer did they notice her.<p>

"Sora?" asked the man, very confused.

She truly seemed distressed.

"Sensei! You need to…"

But before she could finish, Sora, which was in reality a clone, crumbled down into a water puddle and in the middle of it, a silver scroll fell on the ground. Asuma kneeled down, picked up the scroll, and gave a worried look to Kurenai.

"What is going on?" she asked, also worried.

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><p><strong>That's it. Thank you for the couple of reviews I got. I really appreciated it!<strong>

**Share the love, write a review!**


	22. Past and present

**So... heheh... I actually wrote this chapter a while back but I've been re-editing it over and over and over again.**

**I think I'm finally satisfied with it and ready to go on. I'll try not to be as slow for the next chapters!**

**Thank you all for your patience! Work's been pretty busy too!**

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><p><em>"Hey Shikamaru…"<em>

_"Yeah?"_

_"Keep a close eye on Sora."_

_He stared at Reena, studying her expression carefully. Something was bothering her._

_"What's making you say that?"_

_"Well… um… how can I say this…" she started, twisting her fingers together uncomfortably._

_"If it's related to the five-tails, just go ahead."_

_Reena looked at the boy in confusion._

_"Sora told me," he answered her silent question._

_"Geez, that girl tells you way too much!" she said while rubbing the back of her neck._

_Shikamaru laughed. He realized that the girl did tell him a lot. He just never really realized it._

_Reena sighed. "Look. It doesn't happen often but my instincts are buzzing. I can sense that something nasty is going to happen. I just can't tell what. The best that I can get out of it is that it might be related to Sora… But it's only a maybe."_

A loud crack of thunder was heard outside and with it, Shikamaru woke up. He sat up in his bed and rubbed his face with the palm of his hands.

"Geez, what's with all these nightmares?" he mumbled, annoyed.

This was the fifth time tonight that he would wake up from a nightmare. He was starting to wonder if it was because of the storm tonight. Reflecting back on his last dream, he stared thoughtfully outside. During the next flash of lightning, he remembered that Sora was actually afraid of thunder. In the darkness, he looked up at the clock waiting for the next flash of light. When he was able to see the time, he realized that it was just two o'clock in the morning. He started wondering if the girl was okay as she really did seem upset yesterday.

When he realized that there was no chance for him to fall asleep again, he started thinking about what he could do. Seeing as he was still worried for the girl, he decided to get up and get dress. He fully knew that this was crazy but maybe if Sora was somehow awake at this ungodly hour, she would appreciate his company. Just before he left his house, he had the good idea of bringing an umbrella. It was pouring outside after all!

On his way to the girl's house, he realized how alone in the streets he was. It really made him feel crazy but although it was troublesome, something kept pushing him toward the girl. Once he would know that she was okay with this storm, his conscious would probably calm down. When he left the center of the village and walked in the open space that led to Sora's house, he looked up at the sky, hoping that he wouldn't be hit by lightning.

His distracted mind soon became alert when he approached the house. Something felt wrong but with this darkness, it was hard to see anything. As he reached the front door, at his surprise, the front door was open and the ground seemed sunk down. Another flash of lightning revealed burnt marks on the front of the house, as if there had been an explosion. Quickly, he closed his umbrella and walked in a hurry.

"Sora?" he shouted in the dark.

When he didn't get an answer, he slowly walked forth until he saw some light coming from the end of the hallway further on the right. He slowed his step as he walked closer, bringing his guard up. At this point, it was obvious that something was wrong. He finally turned the corner that led to Sora's room when he noticed that someone was in the room and it wasn't the girl.

"Asuma-sensei?"

The man turned around and faced his student with an expression of distress on his face. Shikamaru looked at him, not understanding what was happening. The boy's brain was just not registering properly what was happening this early in the morning.

"Where's Sora?" he asked.

Asuma sighed. As he did so, Shikamaru felt another movement coming from behind him. Turning around to see who it was, he saw Kakashi walking forth with his dog, Pakkun.

"I can smell three men and the girl. That's it," the little dog said.

"We've been doing this for hours. There aren't any more clues. We need to go report, Asuma," added Kakashi.

"I know, I know," said Asuma, on edge, while lighting up a cigarette.

"What's going on?" Shikamaru asked the silver hair man since it was becoming obvious that his own sensei wouldn't answer.

"Sora Tonbo went missing last night," the man quickly answered. Then looking up at Asuma, he urged, "Kurenai went to wake the Hokage hours ago. She won't be happy that we made her wait this long."

"Yeah, let's go."

"I'm coming too," said the boy, worried.

While he got no answer, neither of the men tried to stop him from doing so. They quickly went to the Hokage's office in silence. Something happened and none of them could figure out what it was. Although some of them thought that Tsunade would have fallen asleep while waiting for them, they found her doing quite the opposite. On high alert, she was shuffling through several papers and discussing with her assistant and Kurenai while several ANBU members were waiting patiently in her office.

When the three men walked in, she looked up and huffed: "Finally! What information can you provide us beside for the scroll that Kurenai has brought me?

"There were three men. Nothing more..." answered Kakashi.

"And I can't follow them in this crazy weather," finished Pakkun that had followed them.

Tsunade sighed in frustration. She then looked severely at Shikamaru.

"Do you know anything? Any kind of details could help at this point."

Shikamaru shook his head with a serious face. "No."

Honestly, the boy didn't know what to think anymore. All he knew was that Sora was looking miserable yesterday and ran home. Now, she had disappeared and even his sensei, whom hadn't taken a break once from smoking, didn't look like he was doing so great. Even in this office, everything seemed chaotic. When the sun started coming up hours later and a knock was heard on the door, everyone stopped and held their breath. The door opened and a very soaking wet Sai walked in, looking around and trying to understand what was happening.

"Yes?" simply said Tsunade.

"I'm here to bring a report from our teams," he said walking up to her desk.

From his back pouch, he took out a scroll and a little black bingo book that the ANBU black ops travel around with. He first unrolled the scroll on her desk and said:

"These are the missing-nins that my team have identified with the aid of the other teams from both Konoha and Suna. For a reason which we haven't quite understood yet, they simply stay between our two villages and attack sporadically with absolutely no logic."

"Well that's useful," frowned the Hokage.

"However, we wanted to bring you these three to your attention," continued Sai while opening his bingo book and pointing three names on the scroll.

Tsunade looked at the scroll then at the opened booklet. "Ichiro Chishio, Jiro Chishio, and Saburo Chishio…" she mumbled. She then looked up at the boy standing in front of her desk. "The merciless brothers? From the Hidden Mist?"

Sai nodded. During their conversation, everyone with the exception of the ANBU agents had crept closer to see what discovery Sai had brought.

"That's not all," he continued. He flipped the page to the third brother in his booklet. "Reena wanted to me to bring your attention on him. Apparently, she is convinced to have seen him in Konoha."

The picture caught Shikamaru's attention.

"That man," he mumbled. Everyone turned their head to look at him. With a serious expression, he continued: "He's been selling fake scrolls in the center of the village for quite a while now."

"Selling fake scrolls? Why haven't anyone warned me about this!"

With a little voice, Shizune, who was standing behind Tsunade and holding Tonton in her arms, spoke up.

"Actually, we did get a couple of reports about this a while ago, Lady Tsunade…"

The blonde woman turned around and stared at her. After a few minutes of thinking, she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand. She did get a few reports here and there but hadn't given it much thought as she had been busy with a more urging matter: the missing-nins wreaking havoc between Konoha and Suna. Turning around to face everyone else, she sat up straight.

"You," she said, motioning toward the ANBU black ops, "will track down the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Sand ninjas that we have out there and tell them that it is time for us to take down these missing-nins. Work out a plan with them and help them in achieving it. Do also tell them to keep an eye out for Sora Tonbo. At this point, I have a reason to believe that the merciless brothers have something to do with this."

Once the ANBUs nodded and left, she turned toward Sai. "Go back to your team, Sai. Tell Reena that your team's mission has changed. You are to specifically track down Sora and the merciless brothers."

The boy nodded and left. At this point there was only Shizune, Kurenai, Asuma, Kakashi, Shikamaru, and of course Tsunade left. After a small silence, Kakashi spoke up.

"My nin-dogs might not be able to track anything because of this rain but I think that I should build a team and go too. If the infamous merciless brothers really have something to do with it, Reena's team won't be enough."

Tsunade crossed her hands together and rested her head on them. She thought for a few minutes and after not finding a better solution, she said:

"Fine. Who do you want to bring?"

"Kurenai and Gai."

"I'm going too," spoke up Asuma.

"No, you are not. You're not yourself right now," calmly replied Kakashi.

"I agree with Kakashi," said Tsunade with a nod.

Asuma took a deep breath and turned toward Shikamaru. "Can you wait outside for a few minutes?"

The boy looked at his sensei in surprise but then nodded and left. Walking out in the hallway, he found a corner and leaned against it. Standing there, he tried not to fall asleep. Not sleeping last night was really catching up to him.

Once he left, Asuma turned toward Tsunade.

"Lady Tsunade, you need to understand. I need to go out there and find Sora."

Kurenai decided to step in. "I personally think that Asuma should come too. He's a great asset to us."

"He normally is but not in this state of mind."

This was too much for Asuma who usually remained calm all the time.

"Sora is like a daughter to me! Are you telling me to simply wait here until someone brings her dead body back?! I won't forgive myself if she dies while I could have done something!"

For a few awkward seconds, everyone stood there dumbfounded. At the end, it was up to Tsunade to decide, which she did.

"You may go with Kakashi's team."

Thankful, Asuma nodded in silence. After making some quick preparation plans, the newly formed team left the office to get ready. When Asuma walked out, he found not only Shikamaru but also the rest of his team waiting in the hallway. From the face they were making, it was clear that they heard his sudden outburst.

"We… heard what happened," said Ino uncomfortably.

"Yeah, so we came as fast as we could to see what we could do," continued Choji.

Asuma smiled.

"Well, I guess I can't doubt your team spirit then. Unfortunately, I don't think there's anything you can do right now."

Without saying a word, Shikamaru walked past him and into the Hokage's office.

"Lady Tsunade, I want to go out there too," the boy said firmly.

At this point, the Hokage was just really annoyed.

"No. I already had to deal with your sensei; I'm not dealing with you too. You are going to wait here with your teammates until further notice!" she said with authority.

Shikamaru opened his mouth to argue but closed it back up. He perfectly knew that he wouldn't be able to change her mind. Angry, he turned around and left the room to meet his remaining two teammates. While he had gone in the Hokage's office, Asuma had left with the excuse that he had some things to look after before he left.

Ino and Choji looked at the boy in worry. Shikamaru was doing a good job at controlling his temper but his extreme seriousness made it obvious that he wasn't doing well. Not too sure what to do, the three decided to walk outside. When it became clear that no one had anything in mind, the black hair boy decided to leave without any notice, leaving his two teammates even more worried about him.

Shikamaru's only idea was to go to Sora's house. He had no clue why, but he wanted to go there. So when he walked in the house, the only thing he could think of was to go in the living room as he hadn't had the chance to check it out the first time he came by. It was a sad sight that welcomed him. The table that used to stand in the middle of the place had been pushed against the wall by something and was split in two. All the beautiful drawings that used to be on it were all over the place.

Without thinking, he bent down and picked them up one by one, looking at them carefully as he did. The last one he picked up was a very simple yet detailed drawing of a dragonfly. It was one of the few ones to have color, although there was only a light shade of blue on the insect's body. The boy smiled at the picture. Of course there would be at least one drawing of a dragonfly. Sora truly loved them. At the bottom, Shikamaru could read: 'When you are lost, follow the dragonflies. They are great guides'. Once again, the saying had no author mentioned. They were all deep and full of hidden meanings, but the quotes rarely had any author mentioned. It left the boy at bay when he tried to figure it out.

A heavy walking at the front of the house caught the boy's attention. When he turned around, he saw his sensei walking in while lighting yet another cigarette.

"Ah, you're here. I should have figured that you would," noticed the man.

"Yeah. I thought you were gone," replied Shikamaru.

"I will be leaving soon but I asked a little extra time so I could swing by here just one last time," Asuma explained. He looked around for a few minutes and then said: "it's a real mess, eh?"

Shikamaru nodded in silence. He still was afraid of his temper and everything seemed to frustrate him even more at the moment. His sensei let out a sigh and simply continued talking while staring at the boy.

"I really hope we'll find her in the next few days..."

"Why?" asked Shikamaru with a hint of curiosity.

"It would be a very horrible way to spend her birthday."

"Her birthday?"

Shikamaru thought back through the few years that team 10 had been together. The girl had never mentioned her birthday once. Never. With a new wave of anger washing through him, he asked:

"When is it?"

"October 28th."

This was in three days. How come he was only starting know her more now? That simple thought made the boy let out a frustrated sigh. At his reaction, Asuma had a compassionate smile.

"It's not your fault. She's not the kind to yell it everywhere, anymore. She keeps a lot of things to herself now."

The boy simply looked down at the drawings in his hands. Thinking about what his sensei said, a question formed in his mind.

"Asuma-sensei. Why did you say 'anymore' and 'now'?"

"Oh, that."

The man took the time to take a puff out of his cigarette.

"She wasn't always like this. She used to be more... cheerful and attached to life before the big accident."

"Accident?"

"She woke up one stormy morning to find the ANBUs at her door, bearer of bad news: her parents died during their mission. The news threw her in a terrible furry. During the next few weeks, the only time any of us saw her was at her parents' funeral. Beside for that time, she stayed in her house, doors and windows shut."

"Just like before my birthday," realized Shikamaru.

That explained why Asuma had seemed so worried about her way of acting. With a nod, the man continued.

"Except that time, she didn't trash her house."

"Huh?"

"When her parents' last will had been found, no one would volunteer to bring the document to her. Who wants to face a child who just lost the two most precious persons in her life?"

The man made a pause. He could see that the boy never heard this story which surprised him since the story was well known for a while, especially by Shikaku himself who had been a very good friend to Sora's mother. Telling this story was difficult but with a deep breath, he continued regardless.

"At the end, the Third Hokage's himself decided to visit the girl and bring the documents. Before doing so, however, he looked at it in order to know what he was bringing to Sora. There was three letters: one for her, one for me, and one for the Hokage's. Respecting the parents' final wish, he opened only the one addressed to him. In the letter, it asked for a few things and one of them was for me to be present when Sora would open her's."

"Okay, I admit that I'm not following you. Why was one of them addressed to you and why would you need to be there?" interrupted Shikamaru.

"Because Sora's parents chose me as her godfather."

"You're her godfather?!"

This was more a realization then a question. It explained many many things that had seemed strange, one of them being why Asuma had lost his temper back in the Hokage's office and another being why Sora had called upon him after the incident with Daichi.

"Can I continue?" asked Asuma.

"Yes, sorry," answered the boy while looking down apologetically.

The man chuckled lightly. Then, with his eyes fixed on the dragonfly drawing that Shikamaru was holding, he continued:

"When the Hokage and I went to her house, I admit that I was a bit worried about the state that Sora would be in. The Hokage, who didn't seemed worried, simply knocked on the door. Seeing as we didn't get any answer, he asked nicely if we could come in as we had something to give her from her parents. We had to wait a few minutes but at the end, she opened the door. The girl that stood in front of us was in a horrible state. Her eyes were red from crying so much and her skin was covered with cuts. Inside the house was in an even more horrible state. It was clear that Sora had let her feelings out and I realized that her cuts were from things that had shattered from being thrown around. The Hokage, however, remained calmed and even had given her a look of compassion. The only thing he said was if we could go in the living room. She didn't answer, didn't even bother to look at us, but she still walked us in the living room. When we sat down, he explained the will and then gave us out letters. My letter was filled with things to know about Sora; her habits, her likes, her dislikes, her personality, her ability to learn and grow quickly, everything was included. At the end, it begged me to take good care of her as I was her only family left. There was also another part about giving Sora a certain scroll when she would be ready, but I'm afraid that doing so might have caused her more harm than good."

"And Sora's?"

"She never showed her letter to anyone but whatever was written in it, it helped her move on. She did later talk to me a bit about it but just part of it. Apparently, they pushed her to always go for what she believed and that one day, she would be strong. They always compared her to a dragonfly, saying that she was shy and invisible but beautiful and admirable when seen. I guess that's why she's so attached to dragonflies; they remind her not only of who she is but also of her parents. She wears proudly her family's symbol for a reason."

"She changed after that day?" asked Shikamaru to bring him back in tracks.

"Yes. I helped her fix what she had broken in her house and even stayed with her at first. But then she grew much more independent and she asked to live alone, believing that she could pull around her own weight, which is also why she doesn't tell anyone about being my goddaughter. I've very rarely seen her cry after that. I guess she just decided to become stronger and crying was simply not in her plans."

Shikamaru looked down thoughtfully at the drawings. If he wanted to be with her them he would need to learn more about her. With a sigh, he promised himself that he would definitely work on it once she was back...if she came back alive. That last part made his stomach clenched. She needed to come back alive.

When they left the house, Shikamaru turned toward his sensei and said:

"Good luck and... please bring her back alive."

With a smile, Asuma answered: "Trust me. I wouldn't want it any other way. I'll also see what we can do to get you, Ino, and Choji to come and help us. I know that you three probably hate staying idle here."

Shikamaru nodded in agreement. With a last wave, Asuma left. Still holding the drawings, Shikamaru decided to go home. Maybe sleep would help him beat with this situation a bit better.

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><p><strong>That would be it! What could Shikamaru do? Stay tuned!<strong>

**Share the love, write a review!**


	23. Breaking the rules

**So this is a bit shorter than my usual chapters but I got a plan. Everyone stay calm! haha...**

**Anywho, enjoy!**

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><p>Fourteen hours and twenty-three minutes; that is how long Shikamaru had waited home in hopes of hearing about some kind of updates about the situation with Sora. Looking up at the clock for the hundredth time in disbelief of how slow time moved, the boy couldn't convince himself to think of anything else. He rubbed his face vigorously while thanking god that he was alone today. He had not the patience to deal with his mom poking her nose in this situation.<p>

In an ultimate attempt to make time go faster, he looked backed down at the pile of drawings that he had brought back from Sora's place. At first, he wasn't sure why he had brought them home with him but now he was sure that he was going to take advantage of this and make something nice for Sora's birthday. Like that, she would get a gift for her birthday and she would be happy. _If we find her before her birthday.._. At the thought, he let out an angry sigh and looked back at the clock. God was the clock slow. Or should he blame time itself?

He almost jumped off his chair when someone banged loudly on the front door of his house. He knew he should go open up but he couldn't manage to convince himself to do it. Whatever energy he should have had just wasn't there anymore. He looked up at the ceiling wondering if energy could evaporate. Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Of course not. It was just exhaustion that was messing up his mind.

Whoever was at the door knocked yet again.

"Shikamaru! I know you're there! Open up!" shouted Ino.

"Great," mumbled disheartedly the boy. He was not in the mood to deal with women, especially Ino.

Regardless, he slowly made his way to the door and with one last sigh, he opened it.

"Finally!"

In front of him stood not only Ino but also Choji. Both were wearing their vests and their equipment. Shikamaru eyed them curiously.

"Going somewhere?"

"Yes and you are too," answered Ino.

"Lady Tsunade changed her mind?" he asked.

"No, not really," answered Choji hesitantly.

"Ah."

Discouraged, Shikamaru slowly backed up and started to close the door on his friends. However, unlike him, they were full of energy and a simple door would not stand in their way. Just before the door could close fully, Ino pushed it opened hard and allowed herself, followed by Choji, in.

"Who else is here?" she asked while eyeing around.

"No one."

"Good," she answered.

At the response, Choji walked up the set of stairs and headed for his friend's room.

"Hey! Where the hell are you doing?"

He ran after his teammate all while Ino followed closely behind. Both teammates seemed in a rush. As they reached his room, Shikamaru spun around and tried to block access to Ino. However, she simply ducked under his arms that he had used to stop her and walked in his room.

"Woah! Whose drawings are those?" asked Choji while looking at the drawings that were everywhere on Shikamaru's bed.

As the boy was going to answer, Ino cut in.

"Never mind that. Shikamaru's where your equipment? We need to hurry."

Shikamaru finally had enough of his uncontrollable friends and snapped.

"Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?"

Both stopped their frantic searching and looked at him with wide eyes. They were both clearly surprised by his sudden outburst. After looking at each other with a nod, Choji spoke up:

"We're going to go find Sora."

"But you said that Lady Tsunade has not changed her mind," he says while narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

He was starting to guess where this was going and was hoping like hell that it was just another trick that his mind was playing from exhaustion. Either that or it was their minds that were messed up.

"We're going regardless," finally answered Ino hesitantly as Choji started looking again.

"Guys, you do realize why we can't do this?"

Choji threw the chunnin vest he had just found in his face.

"Do you really want to stay here while Sora is somewhere out there? You want to keep waiting while not knowing if she's still alive? She _is_ our teammate."

"And I know that you might be angry with her but…" added Ino.

The boy interrupted her.

"Wait. Why would I be angry?" he asked her while giving her a skeptical look.

"Because she rejected you?"

"She did?" asked both Choji and Shikamaru in equal confusion.

"No, she didn't! But from what she told me, it did seem like rejection, even if she didn't want it to be!"

"Okay, I'm confused…" said Choji, sadly.

"She didn't reject me Ino."

"So you didn't take it as a rejection?" asked the blond hair girl, now also confused.

"No!" said Shikamaru as he was becoming irritated.

"Oh… T-that's good…!" she answered nervously.

But the boy didn't let it go. He knew better than to just ignore her when she said something that wasn't right like this.

"Ino…" he started slowly. "What exactly did you tell her?"

"I… uh… nothing. Really!"

"Ino, don't make me repeat myself."

"Well, I found it weird that you reacted the way you did! I'm sorry if you're so weird!" she blurted out.

"Guys… I think I lost track of what's going on…" said Choji, uncertain.

"Once again, Ino shoved her nose where it didn't belong. That's what happened," answered Shikamaru dryly to his friend. Then looking back to Ino, he asked her: "You told her that I felt rejected, didn't you? You're the one who made her upset with you crazy imagination again. She wouldn't tell me what was wrong and ran away!"

Ino backed up slowly away from Shikamaru. She had never seen him getting this angry before and this new side of him was taking her aback.

"I didn't mean to, Shikamaru! I was trying to help!"

"And you did the exact opposite! Now she believes that I think I was rejected and, of course, was kidnapped! That's great Ino! That is just great!" shouted out Shikamaru.

Seeing his friend act so unusually, Choji stepped in between the two.

"Shikamaru, this is not like you."

The boy stared at his teammate who was blocking his view on Ino. After staring at him for a few seconds, he came to realize why he was saying this. With deep breaths, Shikamaru did his best to calm down. Definitely, his lack of sleep was making him do quite a few unusual things.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled quietly.

"Don't be. Why don't we all go get Sora? Like that you can explain to her everything. How does that sound?" said Choji with a huge smile.

Shikamaru realized how much his best friend knew him. Looking at the vest that he had grabbed in his hands, he grew thoughtful. Truth was, he had had the same thoughts all day: to sneak out of Konoha and run after the three missing nins that had kidnapped Sora. The only problem was that he did not want to go against the rules. God knows how much trouble can be brought on a person that breaks the rules. For that reason, Shikamaru would usually stick in line. Usually.

Finally making up his mind, he slid his vest on and made sure to tie it up properly. Once he was done, Ino handed him his equipment, which she just had found, with a smile. After gathering anything else that he would need in a bag, Shikamaru looked at both his teammates.

"So what's the plan?" he asked.

"Well, honestly, our plan was to convince you to lead our team out of Konoha," answered Choji.

"Yeah, you're usually the brain making all our plans for us," added the blond girl.

The black hair boy looked at both of them in disbelief. Not only were they pushing him into breaking the rules, they were expecting him to do all the decisions. With a sigh, he closed his eyes. He first decided to calm his mind in order to think more clearly. For once, that turned out to be difficult. There were just so many things to think about.

After several minutes of reflection, he reopened his eyes with now a determined look.

"First things first: do you guys have capes?"

Thankfully, they both had thought about bringing one in their bag. When they were all covered by a cape, they walked out of Shikamaru's house and jumped on a nearby rooftop in order to decide about their plan. Although it seemed hard to go through Konoha's gate unnoticed, Shikamaru pointed out that it was usually easier for people to walk out of the village for the simple fact that the guards automatically assumed that they are fine as they were allowed permission to come in. Thus, they just needed to walk out normally without showing any sign that would raise suspicions.

With that simple fact, they all headed to the main gate on foot in order to not bring any attention on them. The moment of truth came all too early when they reached the main gate. Holding their breath, they continued walking at what they hoped to be a regular speed. What should have been seconds seemed like minutes and even hours for the trio. Regardless, they safely managed to leave the village without even catching the guards' attention. They continued walking without looking back until they were far enough for them not to be seen by the gate.

"What now?" asked Ino as she stopped to look at the two guys.

The other two stopped to look back.

"Where should we go?" added Choji.

"Seeing how all the reports of the missing nins came from the shinobis that are investigating on the road between here and Suna, it is probably safe to assume that everyone is already looking there."

"So we head toward Suna?" asked the brown hair boy, trying to keep up with Shikamaru's train of thoughts.

"No. We go the opposite direction," he answered.

"What?" said the blond girl, confused.

"If the three missing nins are really smart enough to get into the village to kidnap someone, they'll definitely be smart enough not to go where a good two dozens of elite shinobis are waiting to catch them. We got the opposite way, toward Yugakure."

Unable to come up with any arguments about his logic, both teammates nodded. Without another word, they decided to move on in the decided direction, using the night in order to blend into the shadows.

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><p><strong>That's it! We are back on track!<strong>


	24. Ugly encounter

**Woah! Double updates! **

**Yup, double updates indeed; just for you guys! **

***Just as a quick reminder, I've changed the five-tails to be a wolf demon in my story. I just really don't like that horse-like thing... it's really one of the few rare things that I will dare to change since I don't like changing the story either :/**

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><p>Reena was trying to go as fast as she could with her team. The issue, however, was that they couldn't go too fast either. If they did, then they might miss something important. Ever since Sai came back with a new report and new orders from the Hokage, the white hair girl had been feeling unusually panicked. It took all her might to keep it together.<p>

As they kept moving forward, the girl cursed the weather. It was pouring rain and the little hope that she had to maybe catch on her scent had now vanished. She would not even be able to find Kakashi's team in this weather either. Thank god for radios. However, the rain was not only a nuisance to her sense of smell. It was also a nuisance to everyone's sight. They could barely see ahead of them which made their search even slower.

She knew that she should tell her team to stop and hide from the rain a bit. Everyone was exhausted and soaking wet. Even Naruto's usual energy, which had always seemed endless up to now, was gone. Yet, something kept pushing her forward. Maybe it was the fear of falling behind and never being able to catch up to the merciless brother. Or maybe, just the fear of not finding Sora in time.

"Reena."

A voice behind her broke her concentration but that did not stop her from moving forward. She kept going and soon enough her pink hair teammate appeared by her side.

"I know you want to keep going but is it for the best?"

"Yes."

The team leader was in no mood to discuss yet Sakura kept pushing.

"What if we miss them? We can't see properly."

"We will see them. We just need to concentrate."

"But it's hard to move properly in …!"

Alerted by the fact that her partner didn't finish her sentence, Reena stopped and spun around. Concentrating, she barely noticed a shape falling down through the trees. She tried to push herself off the branch she was but her feet slipped. Also falling in mid-air, she hurriedly stabbed the nearby tree with her claw-like weapon in order to change the direction she was falling in order to go toward Sakura. Just before they hit the ground, the white hair girl managed to catch her partner and concentrated her chakra in her feet in order to reduce the impact on her legs from landing hard. She then settled the girl on the ground and fell backward to land in a sitting position.

"You okay?" she asked, uncertain.

Sakura seemed out of breath as she answered.

"Yeah, my foot just slipped off the branch..."

As Sai and Naruto landed nearby to see what had happened, Reena finally started to realizing her mistake. Not only would they miss the merciless brothers, like Sakura had mentioned, the rain was making it dangerous to move around for everyone. In other words, she was putting the mission in jeopardy by pushing forward with the risk of breaking their neck. She sighed.

"I'm sorry guys. Let's stop here."

Sai simply nodded while Naruto sighed in obvious relieved. Once Sakura and her were back up and standing, they started to walk on foot to find shelter. They would need to stay cover until the rain cleared up or at least lighten up. Hopefully, at the same time, their clothing would dry a bit. Without much of a conversation, they finally reached a place where several trees had fallen. By pushing them close together, they managed to create a sort of shelter. After taking place in the newly made up dry place, Reena offered the team to sleep while she guarded. No arguments were made.

Sitting on the edge of the shelter, the team leader continued to stare intently outside. She started wondering how Kakashi's team were doing. To cover more ground, the two teams had split up. Ever since they had done so, they had not heard anything from them on their radio. At the thought, the girl pulled out the radio and looked it, half expecting to suddenly hear the man's voice coming out of it but it stayed silent.

Hours past and the rain had not diminished at all. Behind her, she felt a movement and soon enough, Sakura sat beside her.

"Still raining, huh?" she asked quietly as not to wake up her teammates.

"Yeah…" answered Reena, miserably.

They stayed silent for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry for earlier," said the white hair girl, still feeling guilty for her rash decision.

"Don't be, it's understandable. I'm glad you caught me in time though," answered her friend with a reassuring smile.

Reena opened her mouth to say something but froze as she heard a noise from not too far. Quickly she stared at the direction it came from and waited. She then saw it: three dark figures strolling through the trees at a certain speed. Sakura seemed to have noticed them too as she hurried and woke up Sai and Naruto while mentioning to stay quiet. When they grouped up at the entrance of their cover, Reena motioned to them the plan she had created. Thankfully, they all understood right away. Naruto made several clones and dashed for the three figures as Sakura and Sai went around, surrounding the group. While standing where she was, the white hair girl concentrated her five-tails chakra to her eyes in order to be ready to ambush the group.

"_Oh? Finally getting some action?"_ whispered Kokuō excitedly.

She stared at the three figures. As Naruto was about to reach them, Reena realized that something was wrong. They should have noticed the presence of Naruto by now. Yet, they kept on moving like nothing was happening. Plus, their chakras were all wrong. She swiftly crouched down and looked around them and there they saw them. One of the figures was standing on her right, behind Sai. Another stood on her left behind Sakura. Before she could signal to her team the imminent danger, she tried to track down the third shinobi.

Naruto reached the three figures and attacked them. Immediately, the three figures disappeared in cloud of smoke. When the blond boy and his clones tried to turn around, they came to realize that they couldn't. They were all frozen in place. As if something else were controlling them against their will, they jumped in the air, took out a kunai knife, and headed toward Sai. Realizing that something was off, the black hair boy took out his tantō and got ready to fend off the attack.

While Sakura waited at her position, she felt the ground rumbling behind her. She spun around just in time to notice a huge boulder like figure heading toward her. Jumping on the side, she managed to barely avoid it. Somehow, the boulder managed to turn around and started heading toward her again. However, this time, she was ready. Standing her ground, she raised her fist and concentrated all her energy in it.

Watching the scene from her position, Reena was desperately trying to find the third figure. She was starting to be afraid that this was all a distraction to have the third figure run ahead. If this was the case then they would be in trouble as they wouldn't be able to track him down in this rain.

"_Behind you,"_ whispered urgently Kokuō.

Reena spun around and finally saw the third shinobi that had managed to conceal her chakra from her. There, in front of her, stood the dark figure that was holding her hands in a triangle formation in front of her.

"Mind Transfer Jutsu."

Everything happened in a flash. The white hair girl was taken aback by the ninjutsu and fell backward on the ground. As she felt herself hit the ground, she also took notice that her body felt like it didn't belong to her anymore.

"_Success!"_ said a girl voice from inside her.

A chuckle resonated from the girl's mouth.

"Are you sure about that, you lowlife?" she heard herself say with a beast like voice.

The white hair girl knew that as a mechanism of defence, the five-tail had taken over her body. He made her roll over to stand on all four while still chuckling very amusingly.

"_W-what the…?"_

_Ino?_ thought Reena as she finally recognized the new presence inside her. Kokuō, however, paid it no attention as he moved closer to the motionless body that was laying on the ground nearby. As he moved the girl's hand down on the body's throat, he said:

"We are enough of two in this body."

"_N-no! W-wait!"_ the voice screamed from inside the body in panic.

Pushing forth all the energy she had, Reena managed to speak up with her own voice.

"Rokuō, stop!"

With a grunt, he pulled away her hand.

"She needs to come out or I will kill her," he spat out.

"She will," she said snakingly. Just talking took a lot of energy. "Ino, come out."

"_Y-yes. Release!"_

To aid her with her technique, the five-tail made Reena cross her arms in an "X" formation. As Ino reached back her body, she loudly took in a deep breath. At the same time, Reena collapsed on the ground as Rokuō gave her back her body.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"_Tell her not to do it again or I'll kill her,"_ he answered threateningly with a sniff.

"It was an accident," she answered him as she got up.

After brushing off a bit of mud that was on her pants and boots, she walked up to Ino that was still lying on her back.

"You okay?" she asked while looking down at her friend and giving her a hand.

"Yeah, but he's scary," the blonde girl said while getting up with Reena's help.

"I'd say that 'overprotective' would be the right way to describe him," the white hair girl answered with a smile.

The both turned around to look at the fight. As they did, they saw what they guessed to be Choji flying off, on one side. On the other, Sai was patiently avoiding Naruto's clones' movement and taking them out one by one. Ino cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted:

"Guys! You need to stop! This is Reena's team!"

"What?!" they heard Choji shout from somewhere in the darkness.

"Ino?" shouted Sakura while looking at them wide eyes.

Almost at the same time, Naruto and his clones gained control over their own bodies again. Instead of turning around and blaming the culprit, he started to argue with Sai about how he could have simply avoided him instead of killing his clones off one by one. The ANBU boy only shook his shoulder and said something that sounded like "you shouldn't be such a pussy" which, of course, pissed off Naruto even more.

While the two boys were off arguing in the background, the others met up in the middle.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Reena seriously as she stared down Shikamaru.

"Doing the same thing than you, I believe," he answered defiantly.

The white hair girl arched an eyebrow at his attitude.

"Lady Tsunade let you come too?" said Sakura, surprised.

"...not exactly," answered Ino hesitantly.

The pink hair girl stared at her in surprise.

"You do realize that she might kill you," she said looking at everyone then stopped on Shikamaru and insisted: "all of you."

"Well, it's too late now…" mumbled Shikamaru.

Naruto and Sai seemed to have stopped their fighting as they reached the group.

"Hey! It's nice to see you guys!" shouted Naruto.

"You all went the same way then us," added Sai, with a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Guys, I know you all disagree with what we did," stated Ino. She then looked at Naruto and added: "well, almost all of you, but can we go somewhere covered and hopefully dry?"

"Oh yeah, come to our shelter," said Reena as she motioned for the place where her team was sleeping earlier.

As they started settling down in a circle, Naruto rubbed his hands together and said:

"Man, I wish we could start a fire…"

"Yeah, me too," added Choji.

"But we can't," stated Sai.

As sparks flew between Naruto and Sai once again, Reena concentrated her attention on Shikamaru.

"You know, usually I'd be surprised to see this kind of behavior coming from you but I guess this time is different. I'm actually glad you guys are here. We definitely need more help."

"We'll deal with the Hokage all together afterwards," butted in Sakura as her and Ino came to sit closer to them.

"I'm… actually glad we ran into you guys, despite the ugly encounter we had," said Shikamaru nodding slightly. "We had nothing to follow. All we did was guess where they could have gone, probably for the same reason that you guys came up with."

"Yeah…" answered the white hair girl, discouraged.

"I guess you don't have much luck either?" asked Ino.

Sakura slightly shook her head.

"Where's the other team?" asked Shikamaru.

"Kakashi's team is covering more the south side from here, just in case, but like you can guess, two teams are obviously not enough," replied Reena. Then as a new thought crossed her mind, she continued: "Talking about them, we need to radio them in order to let them know you're here."

Both Shikamaru and Ino shrugged at the idea of their sensei knowing that they had left the village despite orders. There was definitely a lot of discussion that would happen after this mission. However, they knew that they couldn't avoid it. Thus, when Reena picked out the radio from her back pouch, they sat there while holding their breaths.

"Kakashi, come in."

The answer didn't come immediately which seemed to make it worse for team 10. With the bad weather, it was just so hard to communicate let alone do anything else. It is only after a few minutes that they heard the man answer.

"Reena? Did you call in?"

"Yes?" answered the girl confused.

"Sorry, we're hearing a lot of static. What's up?"

"We ran into Shikamaru's team."

There was another long silence. It was as if Kakashi was deciding what to do with this new information. When a response came, it was not the silver hair man at the other end anymore.

"Did you really say Shikamaru?" asked a new voice which they identified as Asuma's.

His voice seemed like a mix of confusion, surprised, and frustration. Reena bit her lip while staring at everyone now. She didn't want to cause more issue for the trio as she understood why they acted this way. Before she could answer, Asuma added:

"Reena, give me Shikamaru."

Defeated, she handed the radio to Shikamaru who hesitated a few seconds before taking it. However, before he could say something, his sensei added:

"Shikamaru, I won't force Ino, Choji, and you to go back to the village but at one condition…"

"Yeah?" answered the boy.

"Don't. Do. Anything. Reckless. I don't need to worry about someone else. Just follow Reena's orders."

Before answering, the boy looked at his two teammates who gave him a serious nod.

"Understood."

With that, the conversation was over. Shikamaru gave back the radio as Kakashi came back on the radio.

"Reena?"

"Yeah?" she answered.

"We will soon have a chain of mountains separating us. Send Shikamaru's team there. As soon as we finish our part, we'll meet them there. Oh, and give them the extra radio."

"Yes, sir," the girl replied with a smirk, knowing full well that the man hated when she answered that.

There was a small silent during which she knew that he was silently cursing her. Finally, he added:

"Your team will also meet at the mountain if you find nothing on your side."

"Understood."

"See you guys in a few days."

She didn't reply. She only set the radio back in her bag, knowing that there wouldn't be anything more that would be said.

"So we're going to the mountains?" asked the boy to confirm his new orders.

"Yeah but tomorrow morning. We'll go after everyone had a good night of sleep and this cursed rain settles down."

"Thank god for sleep!" said Ino as she let herself fall on her back.

"Hey, that's my line," told her Shikamaru.

With a slight smile, everyone went to be with the exception of Sai, who had offered to take the first shift to guard.

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><p><strong>And that is it! A longer chapter than the last one too! Hold on tight for the next chapter! I'll try to stay on a roll !<strong>

**Share the love, write a review!**


	25. Dragonflies

**Come on up and gather around the fire, everyone! Let me tell you this very scary adventure I have faced!**

**I have traveled far and wide in the realm of studies to the point I almost drown myself in a sea of research. Through all and all, I have struggled to stay alive. Little did I realize that something was missing... Until I found it, the treasure of all time. My USB holding all my fanfictions stories. I have re-read through all the chapters and faced countless mistakes. It is with shame yet honor that I decide today to pick it up again.**

**All jokes aside, I have indeed been busy with my university studies and had quite an intense session. I probably have another one coming up but I realized that writing my fanfictions does help me relax. **

**I also have re-read all the chapters of _Like or love_ and was quite embarrassed by some mistakes that I found.**

**Thus, there are two things I need to apologize for, before we start this chapter... One, I am very sorry about how long it took me to pick this up again. I did feel like I needed to re-read it again to be order to continue the flow this story had. I also gave a tad too much importance to the reviews and I shot myself in the foot by doing so... Two, I am very sorry about the mistakes I did. The grammar mistakes and typos I did... ugh. I did re-read my chapters before posting them, but seems like some times I didn't give enough attention to it. I was probably too excited to post some updates.**

**So if you had the courage to read this whole, thank you. I am back now and I sure hope to be able to keep a steady pace until the end. **

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><p>The sun was almost reaching its peak when team 10 reached the mountain chain that was separating the two other teams. As they stood in front of it, the trio grasped the immensity of the rocky peaks and its river which was flowing along the left side. What was the most impressive, however, was that the top of the mountains were not imposing peaks but were actually flat, creating a path for whoever was courageous enough to try to reach the top.<p>

"Have they realized that we are only three?" whined Ino.

"Yeah, well, if they did then this must be our punishment for breaking the rules," answered Choji, also whining.

Shikamaru let out a sigh.

"If we want to cover this, we'll need to split up and meet back here before it gets too dark," declared the black hair boy.

Truth was that he was feeling pretty discouraged too but he couldn't stop yet. They needed to find Sora as soon as possible and if they stayed altogether, they wouldn't cover enough ground.

"So here at sun down," confirmed Ino, regaining some composure.

Once Choji nodded to show that he understood the orders, they all left in different directions. Ino headed right while Choji headed straight. Shikamaru decided to take the left side that was parallel to the river. The black hair boy soon discovered that his path was no easy task to follow. Because of the current of water, the side of the mountains was slippery from the humidity. Thus, very carefully, he made his way along the mountain. If he looked properly, he could find small paths here and there that were wide enough for a person to walk on.

Spending a few hours making his way along the mountain flank made him realize how long this chain of mountain was. It was becoming clear that it would at least take two whole days to explore the whole rocky way. At least, from his calculations, his sensei's team should be arriving tonight. With their help, the second part would be much much easier. Still, if it hadn't been raining so much, a nin dog's nose would have been quite helpful. Since the rocks were so slippery, the boy felt like he was wasting more energy on staying safe than finding some clues.

The sky turned pink, indication that the sun was coming down. The team had ran out of daylight quicker than they would have imagined. Shikamaru had hoped that he would have at least found something, anything, to indicate that they were on the right track. Discouraged, the boy started to make his way back. He was really hoping that Choji or at least Ino would have found something. If Sora had gained consciousness, she would have definitely left some clues for someone to find her.

An unusual sound snapped him back to reality. He immediately stopped and strained his ears to listen carefully. It sounded like a constant buzzing. It was the kind of noise that one would hear when seeing a group of bees flying together, except the sound felt distorted and much more intense. Shikamaru started looking around to locate the source. Soon enough, a colourful cloud came flying straight at him from below. Surprised, he concentrated his chakra in his hands to hold onto the rocky wall and closed his eyes shut as the cloud flew by him. Small things were hitting him as they flew by. Finally, the boy opened his eyes just in time to see that what had taken him by surprise were really thousands of small colorful dragonflies. Astonished, he let go of the wall and looked up as they flew away. He had never seen so many dragonflies flying together like this.

Eventually, he didn't see them anymore. Deciding to get back to his difficult task of making his way back to camp, he gazed back down at the rocky path where he had been heading. As he made a step, he noticed that something was flying like crazy around him. Unsure by what to do, he stopped once again. As if on cue, a little blue dragonfly slowed down its crazy demeanour and started flying on the spot right in front of Shikamaru's face.

"Huh. A blue dragonfly..." said the boy out loud.

It kept flying there, as if waiting for him to do something. The boy's first reaction was to look back up in case the dragonfly's presence meant that the others were coming back. Yet, the sky was, for once, clear. The blue dragonfly, on the other hand, had followed his face and was flying above him. Soon enough, Shikamaru realized that wherever he looked, the insect would follow his gaze.

"Would you stop that?" asked the boy, helpless.

Of course, no answer came from it. He stood there for a few minutes while staring at it. Eventually, a crazy idea crossed his mind. He took off his backpack and opened it up. With his hand, he rummaged through all the content until he found what he was looking for. Very carefully, he took out a stack of drawings made by Sora. He had ended up tying them together and bringing them with him. As if curious, the blue dragonfly started flying around the stack of paper. Still being careful, Shikamaru flipped through the pages until he found the one drawing he had in mind: the one of a blue dragonfly. The insect automatically reacted by flying down and landing on the bottom right corner of the page. Following its path, the boy's gaze fell on the writing.

"If you are lost, follow the dragonflies. They are great guides," he read out loud.

He was very well aware that it was a crazy idea but he still looked hopefully at the dragonfly. It first flew off the drawing a floated in the air for a bit while Shikamaru wrapped his cloak around the drawings to then put them away in his backpack. In a sudden frenzy, the insect flew in a few circles before flying down. The boy crouched down and looked over the edge of where he was standing. It took him a few seconds but he saw it. On a ledge, not too far below him, a headband was lying there. He first lied down flat on the surface where he was standing and then he stretched his left arm to reach for the headband. He was just about an inch away from it. So close yet so far. He shifted his weight slightly to be able to reach further down. Touching it with the tip of his fingers, he continued the process. As he was able to grab it firmly, he suddenly realized that he had shifted his weight too much. In panic, he tried to grab the rocky path with his other hand but it slipped. Helpless, his body rolled over the edge and he started falling toward the crazy water flow which was waiting for him right below.

All while bracing himself, the boy took a deep breath just before entering the water. Unfortunately, the impact was much harder than expected and the air in his lungs instantly escaped. In panic, Shikamaru tried to do his best to swim out of the currents to then realize he wasn't sure which way was up and which way was down anymore.

The last thing he remembered was being pulled backward as he held on for dear life unto the headband he had just found.

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><p>"At this point, I'm starting to strongly believe that we also need to re-educate him on the meaning of the word 'reckless'."<p>

"I understand that you are angry, and trust me, so am I, but let's give him the benefit of doubt until he gets to explain himself."

"You sure are easy on your students. If it were me, I would make them all run five times around Konoha on their hands!"

"Good thing they're not your students then."

Voices were booming all around Shikamaru as he regained consciousness. When he slowly opened his eyes, he was welcomed by yet another voice.

"Ah! You're waking up! Are you okay?" asked Ino from beside him.

Trying to answer caused a fit of coughing.

"Take your time. You might have swallowed a great amount of water," said another voice.

Looking up, he found Kurenai on the other side of him

"You gave us quite a scare!" shouted Choji as he also reached him.

Shikamaru tried to apologize but he only managed to cough more.

"Well, at least we know he's breathing..." added Ino, obviously trying to reassure herself up.

Asuma soon kneeled down before him.

"Remember how I told you, on the radio, not to be reckless? This counts as reckless."

Behind him, the boy heard Kakashi mumbled: "To say we almost lost a second shinobi... "

Now understanding at this point that he couldn't talk for the moment, Shikamaru did the only thing he could think of: he stretched out his left hand and gave to Asuma what he had been holding all along. His eyes widening in surprise, the man took the headband from his student. From the looks of it, it had to be Sora's. Finally understanding, the man looked back at Shikamaru. Instead of showing anger, his face was now showing relief.

"I'll forgive you this time but don't think you should go pull another stunt like this on me," he said as he got up.

Everyone seemed to resume their activities after that. Camp was soon set up and with Ino's help; Shikamaru met everyone around the fire for supper. The group's mood was much better now with the boy's discovery. Reena's group had been called back with the radio and they had answered that they would follow the river back to the mountains, thus meeting up with them probably during the next day. Filled with new hope, the boy looked at the chain of mountain. Sora just had to be there.

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><p><strong>Aaaand that's it! It seems a bit smaller but it is much more condense. <strong>

**If you guys are still reading this and got 30 seconds, maybe give me a bit of your opinion?**

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	26. Where the river flows

As soon as the sun started to raise, Reena's team set out to meet the other two teams located at the mountains. To make it easier, the team leader decided to find the river and run up along it. Just like the other teams, this team was also in high spirits. Though they felt like time could be running out, they had finally found a lead. With it, they were going to be able to work from somewhere.

They had been going at it for about an hour when Naruto suddenly split himself from his cell. Surprised, Reena stopped to see where he was going. The other two who had also stopped gave a questioning look to their leader, who shook her shoulders to indicate that she was equally at lost.

When Naruto rolled up his pants and his sleeves to then walk in the crazy water current, instead of walking on the water itself, the white hair girl finally decided to speak up.

"Hey, Naruto. Just what exactly are you trying to do?"

"Does Sora like dragonflies?"

Reena gave him a funny look. She didn't follow his logic at all.

"Well, yes..." she finally answered after deciding it couldn't hurt answering such a random question.

The blond hair boy seemed very concentrated about something. Curious, the girl decided to get closer to the river while the rest of the team, who were growing impatient, remained behind.

"Naruto, I don't know what you're trying to do but don't you want to go find Sora?" she asked patiently.

"Of course! But... look!" he shouted while pulling something dark blue out of the river.

He ran up to her the best he could and gave her his founding. When she started to look more closely, her face's expression changed from total confusion to pure delight. Out of the blue, she hugged her teammate.

"It's her family crest that she usually wears on her sleeve!"

His eyes widen in surprise.

"It is?"

"Yes!"

He looked back at the water.

"So that means that since the current is coming from the mountain chain then she must have dropped it there and it washed ashore here!" he reasoned, suddenly very excited by his discovery.

His theory left her thoughtful. Though his reasoning was right, her instincts were screaming the opposite. As they walked up to the group, she turned around and looked in the direction the water was going toward.

"Are we good to go?" asked Sakura impatiently.

"Yup! I'm all done!" answered Naruto still proud of his discovery. "I'll tell you on the way what I found!"

"Sure, sure," she said as everyone started getting ready to leave.

"Hey Sai," Reena called out.

The boy in question stopped in his tracks and looked at her while the other two kept going.

"Yes?"

"Your geographical knowledge is much better than mine. Do you know if there's anything at the end of this river?"

"Well..." Sai stopped and thought for a few seconds. "I do believe there is a small village which runs on this river further down here. It's located just a bit before the frontier splitting our territory from the Hidden Mist one..."

"Hm..."

The girl processed what her teammate just told him. Finally, she decided to turn around and catch up with her team. Her priority, at the moment, was to meet up with the other two teams as soon as possible.

* * *

><p>To make their trip easier, both teams had decided to go back by ground to where Shikamaru had hit the water. This way, they wouldn't all have to struggle with the slippery side of the mountain. When they reached their goal, they first scanned the side of the mountain for any clue as to where their target could have past. It was very possible that they had decided to use the slightly more dangerous route in order to remain unseen.<p>

Shikamaru was first able to point out the path he had used himself yesterday. From there, they pinpointed where the headband had been.

"Geez, you're really lucky you didn't crack your head open on your way down, Shikamaru," mentioned the boy's sensei.

The black hair boy looked away in discomfort. It had certainly not been his plan to fall from such a height.

"Ah, give him some slack, Asuma. It was obviously an accident," said Kurenai who was standing nearby.

"Hey, look over there!" shouted out Ino as she pointed toward the mountain.

Everyone turned their gaze in the same direction and there they saw it: the entrance of a cave.

"So they might not have crossed the mountain chain, huh?" mumbled Kakashi.

"Let's go then!" declared Gai.

Everyone looked at the man in the green jumpsuit climbing at an amazing speed. No one was quite sure if they wanted to follow him or not. Though everyone wanted to hurry and find Sora, it was obvious that moving in without a plan would be reckless. Thus, they decided to let the man climb by himself while they made some plan. Chances were, due to what seem like a limitless source of energy, Gai would probably just come back down when he would realize he was alone.

Grouped up together, they started discussing a plan on how to process. It could have been a good idea to wait for Reena's team as back up, but then again they felt more urged to go now in order to find Sora as soon as possible. Due to the amount of time it took them to find this place, they were worried that wasting any more time could be fatal for her. All their talking, however, was soon interrupted by Gai shouting.

"Hey down there! There's no one here! There's a bunch of stuff but not a single soul! Stop being lazy and get up here!"

The group exchanged some surprised looks. They had not considered the option where the cave would be empty. Hurrying up, they all climbed as fast as they could with the slippery surfaces and eventually reached the cave's entrance. Just like the man in the jumpsuit had informed them, no one was there. Walking around, they spread out to explore the place. All kind of things were lying all around. Deeper in the back, Shikamaru and Choji found some torn rope laying everywhere on the groud. Unfortunately, from the looks of things, Sora wasn't anywhere to be found. After several minutes, they grouped up in the middle to find their findings.

"I definitely believe they were here," declared Kakashi seriously.

"There is quite a bit of stuff... Think they really left the place for good?" asked Asuma.

"Well with the drug I saw back there, I seriously doubt they'd just leave all of that here!" exclaimed Gai.

"Drugs?" asked Ino in surprised.

"You don't mean..." started Shikamaru.

Seeing where this was going, Gai decided to shut his mouth. Starting to feel a bit panicked, the boy looked at his sensei.

"Asuma-sensei... you don't think they could have used that on her?" asked Choji, seeing how his best friend couldn't finish his question.

"It's a possibility," answered the man with a grunt all while lighting up a cigarette.

He did not like the idea any more than them.

"What could they possibly have wanted from her?" asked Ino.

But her question remained unanswered as a fog started settling in the cave. Noticing this, Kakashi spun around and shouted:

"Incoming!"

By the time everyone got ready, the cave was now fully filled with a dense fog.

"Looking for someone?" said a voice which echoed all around them.

Everyone kept their back on everyone else in order to be ready for any kind of attack. Unfortunately, it was getting obvious that they would never have the upper hand in this situation.

"We need to get out of here," said Asuma to everyone.

"Oh yes, what an excellent idea!" continued the same voice around them. "Do watch for your step on your way out, heard it was quite... steep."

The enemy chuckled as everyone swore. They knew he was right. Unless they could distract him long enough for them to focus on the entrance, they wouldn't be able to make it out alive.

"Now.. who should I start with?"

The group held their breath and waited. Suddenly, a shaped appeared in front of Kurenai. Before the enemy could strike, she hit the man squarely in the chest with the palm of her hand.

"Wrong choice," she spat out. She then turned to everyone else. "I got him in a genjutsu. Hurry and get out of here! I'll be right behind you!"

No one waited to be told twice. All while making sure that Kurenai was following closely behind, they slowly but surely made their way to the entrance. Once they were able to see again, they hurried and climbed up to reach the flat top of the mountain.

"Here, we'll have the advantage," said Kakashi all while lifting his headband to reveal his sharingan.

Everyone else got in position. They waited until finally, a man jumped up. With quite a speed, he was able to get past Kurenai and ran into Gai. Soon after, five other identical men showed up with the exact same speed. As Gai took care of the first once, Choji ran down a second one in his human boulder shape.

"The real one isn't here," declared Kakashi as he looked around.

"This isn't good," mumbled Asuma as he turned around to find three new clones making their appearance.

"The coward must be hiding somewhere," shouted Gai while taking down another clone.

Shikamaru, who stood behind with Ino, was thinking the situation through. The blond girl stared at him in pressing manner. He suddenly turned toward her and shouted: "Get down!"

She ducked down just in time to avoid what seemed like a sword over her head. Shikamaru made a hand sign: "Shadow sewing technique."

Needles shot out of his shadow and skewered the clone, making it go down in water.

"Shikamaru! Behind you!"

The boy turned around just in time to see the man's sword coming down on him. Though he braced himself the best he could with a kunai knife, the hit never reached him. Looking back up, he saw the man frozen in place.

"Swing that sword down and I guarantee that you're a dead man," sneered a voice behind him.

Thankfully, the man did not seem to have a death wish as he slowly threw his sword sideways, away from him.

"Good, now kneel down and cancel those damn clones!" shouted the menacing voice.

The man followed the instructions and when he kneeled down, everyone saw Reena behind him, holding one of her claw weapon behind the man's neck and the other in his back. She had quite the scary expression on her face.

"Guess we got here in time!" shouted Naruto as he appeared with Sakura and Sai.

When everything seemed to have calmed down, everyone gathered around Reena and the kneeling man. Kakashi calmly kneeled down with one knee and followed the usual procedure that he and the white hair girl had now established:

"Your name?"

The man stared him down at first with defiance. That leftover courage he had soon left after staring into Kakashi's Sharingan. In a matter of seconds, he turned pale like a ghost. The shinobi spoke again.

"I will not repeat myself."

"Jiro Chishrio."

Reena glanced at Sai who looked through his bingo book. After a few seconds, he quickly nodded. Seeing his answer, Kakashi resumed.

"Are you alone?"

"Yes."

"Was this place abandoned?"

"No."

"Where are the others?"

"On the lookout."

"For what?"

"To find a way through those damn ANBUs."

Kakashi took a deep breath before asking his last question. With the answers he was getting, things were not looking up at all.

"Where is Sora Tonbo?"

At everyone's surprise, the man snorted then burst out into laughter. Losing her calm, Reena kicked the man on the ground.

"Answer the damn question!" she shouted.

A very bad feeling started settling in as Shikamaru waited for the man to answer the most pertinent question.

"Somehow, she got out of her ropes and ran out of the cave. Without even a moment of hesitation, she jumped down into the river." The man laughed out loud like a maniac again. "That crazy bitch must have had a death wish!"

Shikamaru froze in disbelief. Could the man have been lying?

"Damn it," spat out Reena at the revelation.

She finally understood why they had found Sora's family crest in the river.

"We need to find her," added the girl while looking at her sensei in a pressing matter.

Without a moment more of hesitation, Asuma spun around to face his remaining three students.

"Go. Follow the river."

No questions were asked and without a second more, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji left the scene behind. Nothing was holding them back here anymore.


	27. When reality comes into play

The trio had gone down the mountain as fast as they could and, without a word, started following the river. Running along it, they kept their eyes peeled for any sign of Sora. No one wanted to speak up. It was as if words could make the current situation real.

Shikamaru was ahead of the group. He had all his attention focused on the river while his teammates followed closely behind. As soon as the thought that Sora could no longer be alive would cross his mind, he would push it to the back of his mind. He had kept his mind so blank that he barely heard Ino until she actually managed to grab his arm.

"Shikamaru! It's getting too hard to see without the sun."

Not fully understanding what she meant, he looked up at the sky. The sun was almost set and the sky was a dark purple. Blinking in surprise, he looked back at his two teammates whom were staring at him in worry.

"We need to keep going," he told them urgently.

"I understand Shikamaru, but we don't want to run past her either…" mumbled Choji.

"We are equally as worried as you," added Ino.

The boy stared at both his friends. He wanted to keep going but his mind, which was telling him that they were right, was starting to kick back in.

"I…" he said while looking around them hesitantly.

Seeing him so unsure, Ino took pity and walked closer to him. She softly put both her hands on his shoulders and looked at him straight in the eyes.

"It's going to be okay. You have to believe in the best scenario."

"But what if…"

"She's right. Sora would have never made the jump if she thought she wouldn't survive it," added Choji encouragingly.

Finally, Shikamaru's mind was fully working and processing what they were telling him. They were right. Sora was smart enough to plan ahead of time. She always had an affinity with water so perhaps she felt like it was no danger to her. With these more positive thoughts in mind, he sighed and closed his eyes. When he reopened them, he was feeling a little bit better.

"You guys are right. Let's make camp. We'll start looking as soon as the sun comes up."

With a nod, both his teammates started making camp. Joining them, he helped with the tent. However, when they started making a fire, he told them that he was tired. Although it was obvious that his friends were worried about him, he left to go lay down in the tent. Lying on his back there, alone, he let his mind go loose. He was analyzing everything he had known up to now. In his mind, he was exploring every possibility. Soon enough, he came to realize that he needed to see Sora at least one more time. He didn't want her to think that he thought she rejected him. She needed to know how, in fact, he had been happy to have shared that kiss.

Though he had thought he wouldn't be able to fall asleep, he slowly but surely slumbered deep into dreams.

* * *

><p>As soon as the sun had gone up, the team hurried to pick up camp and left when they were ready. They continued to follow the river flow looking for more leads. The more time moved on, the more the teams were getting more and more discouraged again. Their mood was obviously affected by the lack of clues.<p>

Few hours past when they finally reached a small village. The team slowed down as they walked through it. Though they were still looking for Sora, they were mostly impressed with the village's system which allowed the villagers to survive on the river's flow. Walking through the village, though, gained them a few unfriendly stares. For some reason, the trio was obviously not welcomed here. Regardless of that fact, the team still stopped at a small market near the end of town. There, they were surprised to be welcomed with open arms by a friendly elderly owner.

"Welcome! Welcome! How could I help you?"

The trio, overly exhausted from running constantly, leaned against the counter.

"We need some refreshers. Anything will do, really," told him Shikamaru.

Instantly, the man's face light up.

"Ah! Let me bring you my specialty drink then!"

As soon as he said this, the man left all smile in the back of the shop. Ino gave a questioning look to Shikamaru but he only shook his shoulders, unsure by what the man was going to bring back. On the other side of the blonde girl, Choji managed to pull out a bag of chip after rummaging through his backpack quite intensively. Happy, he opened up the bag and started eating the whole content in order to replenish his strength and energy. It would seem like the team was just too exhausted all together to talk. Thus, quietly, they waited until the owner came back with three glasses.

"Heeere you go!" he said as he gave them the drinks.

At first, they looked at the drink which had a strange yet transparent color. After a few seconds of staring at their glass, Choji couldn't take it anymore and chugged the whole content.

"Woah! This is amazing! Can I have one more please?" he asked all excitedly.

Following his example, Ino and Shikamaru tried their own glass. A surprisingly sweet fruity flavor filled their mouths.

"This _is_ amazing!" complemented Ino. "What exactly is this?"

"It's a secret," answered the man with wink. "Did you want another one?"

She shook her head vigorously. Never had she drank any as tasteful as this before. The owner once again left at the back to get new drinks.

"This is really refreshing. Exactly what we needed," continued Ino as she continued to stare at her glass.

"Quite surprisingly so," added Shikamaru with a nod.

The man once again came back with three more glasses. As he gave another to Shikamaru, he said:

"I know you didn't ask for seconds but I assumed you would still like another one…"

The boy nodded as a thank you and the man smiled. While they drank their second glass, Shikamaru looked outside to see a few more villagers walking by. Most of them were giving them some very hostile glares.

"I'm sorry to ask sir, but why do these people seem so upset to see us?"

"Ah, an incident happened a few years ago. This village was quite badly affected by a shinobi dispute that happened near here. Ever since then, a great amount of villagers have been left scarred by that event and thus don't like shinobis, such a you, very much. Don't worry though; there are still a few good souls such as my wife and me who don't share their opinion. In fact, if you are ever looking for a place to stay, my wife's hotel, right behind here, still has several available rooms!"

"Ah, thank you but we are currently on the lookout for... something. I think I speak for everyone here when I say we appreciate your invitation though," Shikamaru answered all while looking at his teammates nodding in agreement.

"Haha, we don't see nice and respectful kids like you bunch quite as often anymore. Know what? The drinks are on me today! Enjoy them!"

"Thank you so much sir!" chimed Choji.

"We appreciate this so much!" added Ino.

The blonde girl looked back at their leader when she realized that he had not reacted. That was when she noticed that he was staring off in the distance again. Worried that he might sink back into yesterday's state, she tried making conversation.

"Hey, Shikamaru?"

The boy snapped back to reality at the mention of his name. After blinking a few times, he looked back at her.

"Yeah?"

"How did you know to look down for the headband back there?"

Embarrassed, the boy looked down at his glass, making the little bit of juice that was at bottom twirl in circles.

"Well... This is going to sound crazy."

"Try me."

"I saw several dragonflies. One of them caught my attention and it flew near the headband..."

"Dragonflies, huh?" said Ino thoughtfully.

"Well, if you want my opinion, it doesn't sound all that crazy to me!" chimed the owner from the other side of the counter. "In fact, we currently have a guest who's quite fond of them. They are such an interesting kind of insect. Don't you think?"

"They are! Our friend really loved them a lot!" answered enthusiastically Choji.

"Choji!" shouted angrily Ino as she spun around.

"What?" he said, looking at her blankly.

"How could you talk about Sora in the past tense like she's... like she's... _dead_!?"

Shikamaru slammed his glass on the counter.

"Ah! S-sorry... I didn't realize..."

"Let's go. We wasted enough time already," said Shikamaru sharply.

Ino gave an angry look at Choji as she got up and ran after their leader who had already started leaving. Just before leaving, the brown hair boy spun around and looked at the kind owner.

"Sorry for leaving so abruptly! We really appreciate everything! We'll definitely be back if we're around here."

"It's all good. I really hope you find what you are looking for!" said the owner with a huge smile on his face.

The boy ran after his two teammates.

"Guys! Wait!"

When he caught up to them, he apologized once again to his teammates. Those were the last words spoken for a while. Though their trip through the village had made them feel a bit more positive, their mood had come crashing right back down.

Following the river, it took them another two hours until they reached the frontier separating the two countries. With the limit of the land came the end of the river. The team stopped abruptly as they saw the crazy water flow go down into a great waterfall.

In panic, they spread out around the part of the river where big rocks where coming out of the water. If there was any chance that Sora had gotten all the way out here, she would be around these parts. Worried, Ino and Choji looked at Shikamaru to see what they should do.

The boy first looked around them. There were trees both east and west from there. North of them was the Hidden Mist country and south was where the river came from.

"Ino, go east. Choji, west. Meet back here in.. Let's say... 3 hours."

Both nodded and left right away, not wasting any time. Once they were gone, Shikamaru started looking through the rocks in the water. They formed a kind of gate as there was very little space in between them. It would be hard for a body to slip through. That single thought made him grind his teeth. "She is not dead", he kept repeating himself over and over again.

After rolling up his sleeves, he plunged both his arms in the water. He inspected each rock and the space in between them thoroughly, making sure he wasn't missing anything. It took quite a while but suddenly one of his hands hit something that did not feel like a rock. Before taking it out of the water, Shikamaru took a deep breath, preparing from the worse.

Out of the water he pulled a small pouch. Holding it carefully, he opened it and looked inside. Bandages, paper bombs, kunai knives and a few scrolls were soaking wet. At the bottom completely, he found a folded paper with a few pencils. He opened it the best he could and there, though it was distorted a bit by the water, he saw one of Sora's drawings.

Taken by a sudden wave of panic, he threw the pouch on the side of the river and resumed looking in the water. As he reached the last rock, it was becoming quite obvious that he would find nothing more. He got straight up and looked at his surrounding again.

"SORA!" he called out at the top of his lungs.

But no answer came.

After slowly coming out of the river, he let himself fall down on the ground beside where the pouch had previously landed. Elbows on his knees, he hid his face in his hands. They were too late; he thought as his world came crashing down on him.


	28. Reuniting

"Are you sure they came this way?" asked Kakashi.

Reena took the time to look around before answering.

"Though the smells are fuzzy with this mist, I strongly believe that they did."

The group of eight shinobis had hurried along the river to catch up with the trio of chuunin they had sent ahead. When they reached the end of the river and found no one, they started worrying. Trying to call them by radio had not worked either. They had only gotten a long dead silence as an answer. While looking around, Reena finally declared that she had managed to catch on their smell. Since there was no reason to stay where they were, the group had decided to follow the trail.

Thus, the group had been eventually guided back to the little village they had run through earlier. Walking around, they noticed quite a few people looking their way in a very unfriendly matter but disregarded it as they were no danger to them. Finally, the white hair girl stopped in front of a very large hotel.

"A hotel? You sure?" asked Kakashi again.

"Since when do you doubt me so much?" she answered with another question.

By the tone she had taken, it was quite evident that she was irritated by his lack of trust. After being on so many missions together, she strongly believed that he should know her better than that by now.

"Finally! I'm really getting soaked with this mist!" shouted Naruto in relief.

"Seriously, after all this rain, some time to dry off will be really good for us," added Sakura with a nod.

Asuma was at the door before anyone else. He did not understand why his team would be resting here and was worried that something could have happened to them since they had not been getting any answers on the radio. Leaving everyone else behind, he hurried inside.

"Welcome! Welcome!" greeted an elderly woman.

After taking a quick look around, he walked up to the woman.

"Good afternoon. Would you have perhaps seen three young shinobis, such as myself, walk in here?" he asked with all the patience he could muster at the moment.

The lady smiled sweetly.

"Oh yes! Those very lovely kids seemed quite exhausted when they came here. They ended up renting three of my rooms in the west end."

"West end, hm?"

"Would you kindly guide us to them?" asked Kurenai who had walked up behind him.

"Well, of course!" the elderly woman said.

Without any questions, she walked out from behind her desk after putting a small sign on it to indicate that she would be right back. By the time she reached the space between Asuma and Kurenai, the rest of the team had gather around them.

"Well aren't you all a lively bunch!" she commented with another sweet smile.

"Just trying to be as lively as possible with this weather," joked Kakashi as an answer.

"Just this way!" motioned the lady as she walked ahead of the group.

The wet group of Shinobis followed the host up the grand stair and then turned left. They took note of how big this hotel was as they walked down the hall. She finally reached some glass doors at the end of the corridor. The elderly woman stopped.

"Those kids really seemed depressed so I thought it would be nice to sell them the nicest rooms of the west end at a discount price. Besides, all the rooms here are connected to a main room which has its own grand patio. Thought they could use the privacy."

Asuma nodded.

"Thank you."

Leaving the group there, the host turned around and left. When he saw her turn to go down the stairs, Asuma opened the door. There, in the middle of the place, he saw two of his students discussing.

"...it makes me worried," mumbled Ino with her arms wrapped around her as if to reassure herself.

"He might just need his space," answered Choji.

The opening doors caught their attention.

"Asuma-sensei?" said the blonde girl with wide eyes.

"How did you all find us?" asked her teammate, taking note of the whole group.

"I found you, luckily," answered Reena as she tapped her nose with her finger.

Sakura, behind everyone, made sure to close the doors properly behind them, as if to provide some privacy.

"We tried to radio in," said Asuma.

"Our radio is dead. We think it might have happened when Shikamaru fell in the water with it," explained Ino.

"Did you find...?" continued the sensei.

Knowing what he was asking, both Chuunin shook their heads before he even finished his question. Anger filled the man. This could definitely not be over.

"Shikamaru found her pouch but that's about all we found. We can't find her… body… anywhere," explained Ino, struggling at the thought of having to find Sora dead.

Asuma took the time to take a deep breath to calm himself down. He knew he had to keep his head cool for what was to come.

"Speaking of Shikamaru, where is he?"

"We don't know. He seemed out of it last night and last we've seen of him was him entering his room."

"Well, this hotel you found is quite nice. Kakashi, why don't we go book more rooms for everyone. I like the idea of having all our rooms connected like this," said Kurenai.

She knew it would be better to leave the team alone for a bit to discuss things out. They needed to face this new obstacle together and having a whole group of shinobi staring at them was just not going to help. The group started to follow Kakashi's lead as he opened the door and left. Just before leaving, Reena walked up to Asuma. She put her hand softly on his arm to get his attention. When he looked at her, she looked up toward the ceiling. It took a few seconds for the man to realize what she was saying but finally nodded. Afterwards, the white hair girl left and closed the doors behind her.

Asuma turned and looked at his two students.

"Care to elaborate on what happened?" he asked all while crossing his arms.

"Well…" Ino looked at Choji.

The brown hair boy decided to continue.

"We followed the river, all the way till the end. We got to that wall of rocks and Shikamaru told us to split up and look around since Sora wouldn't have gone through the rocks. We didn't find anything and we came back didn't seem to be doing too well. He was just sitting there beside a pouch he had found in the water. We confirmed it was Sora's but it's the only thing we found."

Asuma hung his head. He reviewed the information in his head. The trio didn't find anything along the water. The rest of them had followed the same path and had not found any further information. What the hell could have happened to Sora? He finally shook his head. He needed a cigarette badly.

"I want the two of you to go meet the rest and the reception desk. Make sure that they we get rooms here, near yours."

Without a word of complaint, the two chuunin nodded and left the room. When the door was closed behind them, he walked to the other two glass windows leading to the giant deck outside. He opened the doors and inhaled the fresh misty air that came to meet him. He then walked outside, took out his pack of smokes, and started a cigarette.

He closed his eyes as he started puffing on it. He hadn't had a cigarette since they had gotten on their way this morning to find his students. With pure delight, he finally opened his eyes and looked the backyard of the hotel. It was quite vast and excluded from the rest of town. This hotel was pleasing him more and more.

Finally, he puffed out yet another cloud of smoke. While still looking at the backyard, he spoke out loud:

"Aren't you going to give me the big speech about how cigarettes are going to kill me one day?"

A few seconds of silence followed. Yet, Asuma did not take his eyes of the backyard. A response eventually came from the rooftop behind him.

"No," said the voice coldly.

Asuma kept smoking his cigarette. He knew he had to go slow with Shikamaru. His student cared just as much as he did about his goddaughter.

"We won't stop looking for her," he said.

"It's too late. We're too late."

Shikamaru's voice was flat yet cold. His sensei knew him as the realistic but not the pessimistic. Something about Sora was altering his judgment.

"We need to find her, alive or dead. We won't give up until we found her."

"Sure."

It was only then that Asuma turned around. Leaning back on the railing, he looked up to see the boy laying on his back and looking up to the sky. He didn't seem to move.

"We'll try to go one team at the time to look around and we'll switch up every day. For now, we can expect to rest. You guys did enough."

"Okay."

This conversation was obviously going nowhere. Asuma sighed as he looked up to the sky himself. He didn't know what to do with his student. Maybe he just needed to give him time to himself. Knowing he was safe and on the roof was enough for now. Finishing his cigarette, he squashed it on the ground and started heading to the door. As he reached for the door's handle, Shikamaru called out to him.

"Sensei…"

Surprised, the man backed up a few steps and looked up. Shikamaru was now sitting and looking down at him.

"What if we never find her?" he asked.

His face showed clearly his pain. He was definitely not doing well. Asuma shook his head.

"We will find her, no matter what it takes. I promise."

Slowly, Shikamaru nodded his head and then layed back on the roof, resuming his previous position. Watching the clouds somehow brought him comfort.


	29. Out in the Storm

Though he wanted to stay with his students, Asuma was called out to go look for Sora with the rest of his team. It was now their turn to leave for a few days now that Reena's team was back. Yet, Reena's team had not joined Shikamaru and his teammates as they ate lunch in the dining room located downstairs near the front entrance. Perhaps they were just too tired for now.

Ino looked up at Shikamaru to see how he was doing. Though a bit pale, he had started moving a bit more around and, more importantly, he had started eating. She looked at Choji and motioned to him to start up a conversation but the boy was too lost in thought with his food to actually notice her. Upset, she kicked him under the table.

"Ow! What was that for?" he shouted at her.

She rolled her eyes. So much for the discretion.

"If you were not daydreaming again, you would know exactly what's wrong!"

Of course, an intensive argument started up from just this. It was Shikamaru's turn to roll his eyes as he grabbed the last bit of sandwich and shoved it in his mouth. As quickly as that, he was up and leaving the room, leaving his two teammates to argue. He had no patience today either to deal with their silly fights. Walking through the hallway entrance to head to his room, he noticed the elderly woman that owned the hotel staring out of the front doors. Something was clearly worrying her. He looked back at the dining room. Both Ino and Choji were still argue. They didn't seem to have noticed his absence. He approached the woman and looked outside. It had started to rain hard, clearly indicating the coming of a storm. At that thought, his stomach clenched. Wherever she was, Sora would probably be scared right now.

"Are you worried about something?" he asked her softly.

She looked up at him, smiling the best she could.

"Our young guest… she has been walking around in crutches and I'm worried for her. She usually stays close to here when it is raining but this time she didn't come back and now this storm is coming."

Shikamaru stared outside for a while. Was he crazy enough to do this?

"I'll go look for her. You said she was in crutches, right?"

"Yes, it's a small town so there aren't really any injured except for her. She should be easy to spot. She also has a bandage around her head."

The boy nodded and, without another word, slipped in the rain. He headed straight for downtown as it seemed to be a hotspot for tourists. Thankfully, the roads were empty due to the upcoming storm which got him to avoid being stared at by other villagers. However, when he got to the fountain in the middle of the town, he came to realize that empty roads meant that the person he was looking for wouldn't be there. He cursed under his breath. If, at least, he had taken an umbrella. Now, he felt drenched to the bone. But a promise is a promise. Shoving his hands in his pockets the best he could, he started to wander around the streets, wondering if that person had been smart enough to at least take cover. How hard can it be to find someone with crutches?

"What do you mean you can't find him?" asked Ino in panic.

"Exactly what I just said," answered Reena with as much patience as she could muster at the moment.

"But… you found us, didn't you?"

Choji, on the other hand, seemed to grasp the situation.

"Ino, it's pouring outside."

"So what?" she asked while turning to his teammate.

"Well, Asuma-sensei once told us that, although Kakashi's dog are formidable trackers, they can't track in the rain since it erases all traces of smell," he then turned to Reena. "I think the same concept applies to you?"

Reena nodded, glad that at least one of them finally caught on. Ino still added:

"I'm worried about where he could have went."

"To be honest, Ino, I don't think he would have left the village. Maybe some time outside is a good thing for him…"

"It is POURING outside," pointed out Ino, getting angry with the situation.

"He went out there for me," spoke up a voice behind the group.

They turned around and saw the owner of the hotel suddenly standing behind the entrance desk.

"You know where he went?" asked Choji as he rushed up to her.

The elderly woman shook her head slowly.

"Not exactly but he heard me worrying over one of my guests that hadn't come back and went out to get her." She then picked up a piece of paper and stared at it while mumbling: "A sweet girl, really."

Reena's eyes widen.

"Sorry to ask but who drew this?"

Her question caught everyone's attention as they looked down on the drawing of the town. The style was recognizable.

"No way," mumbled Ino.

"Who drew this?" asked Choji, clearly excited.

"Well, our new young guest…"

"Do you know her name?" asked Reena, also excited by the discovery.

But elderly woman shook her head.

"We're calling her Kyuu because of her love for rain but we don't know her real name. She doesn't remember."

"She doesn't… remember?"

The old woman's eye filled with sadness as she remembered the day they had found her.

"One of the villagers found her on the side of the river. She was really not doing so well and she couldn't recall what had happened to her nor who she was. So now she she draws, hoping it will help her."

Everyone in the group stared at each other. Could it be that Sora was alive and so close to them all that time?

_How hard can it be to find someone with crutches?_ He chuckled sarcastically at the question he had asked himself about half an hour ago. He had nearly gone around the whole town without finding anyone with crutches and this damn rain was not going away. He was now taking shelter under a rooftop near the river, deciding where to go next. Looking up, he saw the dark clouds looming over the town. Any time now…

As the thought crossed his mind, he saw a clear outline of a lightning bolt in the sky followed by the gruesome sound of thunder. It was so closed that he felt like everything around him was shaking. He closed his eyes at the flash but reopened them when he heard something faint. Looking around, he wondered if he was crazy.

As soon as he walked out from under the edge of the rooftop, the rain soaked right back in his clothing but he didn't care. What he had heard was familiar but faint. It had been so faint that he was wondering if perhaps he had imagined it. While he looked intensively around while using his hand to shield his eyes in hopes that it would help him, another clash of thunder was heard. There. On his right. Someone had screamed.

He ran around the house he had been under to finally find the source of what he had been hearing. There, sitting on the ground and struggling to get up, was Sora. One of the crutches was lying on the ground beside her, the bottom snapped. Though he desperately wanted to help her, he couldn't move. It was as if what he was seeing was just too unbelievable. It was finally her that snapped him out of it.

"Will you please help me?" asked the girl, half furious and half in panic.

He shook his head and ran up to her. Grabbing her arm, he put it around his neck and lifted her up. As soon as she was standing, she used the unbroken crutch to lean on. She then pulled her arm away from him, balancing on the one support she had.

"Thank you," she mumbled while trying to start walking.

She soon figured out the hard way that walking with one crutch is near impossible with one only valid leg. As soon as she put pressure on the leg that was wrapped heavily in bandages, she screamed in agony and lost balance. She closed her eyes, expecting to hit the ground hard again but two arms wrapped around her.

"Why don't you climb on my back? It will be much easier for you," offered Shikamaru.

Sora stared at him blankly as if he had just offered him the craziest thing. She shook her head.

"No. I'm good."

She tried again to walk with the same result. Shikamaru sighed. He wasn't sure whether he should feel discouraged or frustrated.

"Damn it Sora, stop being troublesome and get on my back."

His reaction caught her by surprise but he was too impatient to wait out here in the rain for her to try to stubbornly make her way back to the hotel. He would take the time to explain to her the misunderstanding that Ino had created back in Konoha but right now she had to suck it up and accept his help. So, not giving her a choice, he knelt down in front of her so she could climb up on his back. Thankfully, she didn't argue again and accepted his help.

They were now heading back to the hotel in silence. The girl was acting different and Shikamaru was really hoping that she still wasn't upset with him by what had happened before this whole craziness had happened. Besides, he was dying to have Sakura take a look at her injuries to make sure his teammate was fine. As he started trying to make up a speech in his head about what he would tell her once they reached the hotel, the girl spoke up.

"Why did you call me Sora earlier?"

Shikamaru stopped.

"What?"

The girl hesitated, not understanding how her question was unclear. She tried to phrase it differently.

"Earlier, you called me Sora before calling me troublesome. Is that my name?"

Shikamaru turned his head and looked at her face the best he could to see if she was kidding. Her serious face sent chills down his spine. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

"What do you think your name is?"

"Well… They're calling me Kyuu."

Shikamaru shook his head in disarray.

"Who…?"

But his question was cut off by another roll of thunder which was accompanied by a quick scream from Sora. Realizing that they were still outside, he started dashing toward the hotel. This conversation would need to continue in the hotel and after this storm.


	30. The Lost Memories

When they had reached the hotel, the group had almost jumped on Sora, excited to see her alive. However, the excitement was clearly not shared as the girl backed up terrified. Not only did she have to deal with her fear of thunder, she now had to deal with all these strangers being overwhelmingly present. To top it all off, she was starting to have one of those major migraines that she had been getting since she had arrived in this village a few days ago.

Her struggle did not seem unnoticed as the elderly woman, who had also been waiting for her, rushed to her aid. Bending over while holding her head, she tried to speak to the woman that had run up to her but all that could she managed to muster were a few groans.

"Sorry everyone, but it seems your reunion will have to wait. This poor girl needs her rest!"

In dismay, everyone backed away slowly. At least knowing that she was alive already seemed enough for now.

By the next morning, everyone that was still present had been informed. Reena had tried to call in the other team but had received no response. It would thus be a surprise for them to return to the hotel and find Sora. Now sitting all around the table, they could be seen eating silently their breakfast which was quite a rare sight. It was clear that they were all nervous to see the girl again and afraid to scare her off again. So when their friend finally mustered the courage to walk in the dinning room, she was met by seven pair of eyes. Surprisingly, as she stood there, a silence reign in the room. No one was sure what to say or do. With a bit more light from the sun, they could see what state she was in. A bandage was wrapped around her head and a heavier one could be seen around her left leg. She was wearing unusual colours, indicating that these clothings were not hers. Where her clothing did not cover her skin, cuts and bruises could be seen. What worried the group the most, however, were the dark rings under her eyes. They could have been there due to lack of sleep but the group silently thought that it could have also been the effect of the drugs that had possibly been given to her.

Shikamaru finally cleared his throat, making everyone realise how silent and awkward this reunion was becoming.

"Why don't you come sit with us, Sora?" he offered kindly.

"Oh yes! Do sit with us! We'll make a place for you just here!" said Reena all excited as she pushed Naruto beside her.

The blond boy gave her a pout which was short lived given the situation.

"Sora…" the girl whispered to herself as she started moving forward with what seemed to be a new pair of crutches.

Reaching the end of the table where Reena had made everyone on her side scoot over, she slowly sat down and looked at the boy who helped her the night before. She stared at him for a few seconds, wondering what she was doing here with all these strangers.

"So my name is Sora…?"

"Yup, Sora Tonbo," answered cheerfully Ino.

She opened her mouth to ask another question but was interrupted by the elderly owner that walked in with a tray.

"Well well, Kyuu. You're up early, like the rest of these folks if I may add," she told her with a warm motherly smile. Settling down the tray in front of the girl, the woman took a look at everyone sitting at the table. "I'm very happy to see that your friends have found you. I was starting to worry that you may be lost here. Now you can have them help you bring back your memories!"

Sora gave a small smile to the lady and nodded.

"Apparently, my name is Sora. We'll have to get into the habit of using that name now."

The elderly woman chuckled. "Of course, my child. It will be a hard habit to break but I promise to try."

The woman squeezed Sora's shoulder and smiled gratefully at everyone at the table. After looking at everyone, she started making her way back to the kitchen door. As soon as she was gone, Sora stretched out a shaky hand to grab the orange juice in front of her and slowly brought it to her mouth. Noticing this, Naruto spoke up.

"Hey, you know we're all friends here. No need to be nervous."

He then chuckled as if to lighten the mood in the room. Everyone exchanged guilty looks. Their fear of the possible outcomes was clearly not making a cheerful atmosphere.

"Though I am a bit nervous, I gotta say that my hands have always been shaky, at least since I woke up here. Some time it gets worse."

"Perhaps, the aftereffect of some drugs," suggested Shikamaru.

"That's what the village's doctor said. Either that, or I was born with a type of disease."

Shikamaru shook his head.

"I can promise you that it's not something you're born with. It's most probably due to the recent events."

"If you don't mind, Sora, I'd like to get a proper look at you after breakfast. I could most possibly heal a few things and see what kind of aftereffects you're getting from what happened," offered Sakura with a warm smile.

Sora looked at her confused. This pink hair girl didn't look like a doctor. Seeing her confusion, Ino cut in.

"She's a medic ninja. She can easily help you with your leg or any injuries you have."

Sora hesitated a few seconds before slowly nodding.

"Sure, I'm willing to give it a go."

With her answer, she slowly started eating the content of her plate. Looking more closely, Shikamaru noticed that she was playing more with the food than eating it but didn't want to bring it up. It seemed so easy for the girl to just close up when the discussion died.

"So what do you remember Sora? Do you remember us?" asked Choji excitedly.

Sora looked up from her food again and stared at the one that ask her the questions. She thought for a moment.

"I get glimpses here and there. They don't always make sense. It's really all just jumbled up."

Reena took the opportunity of taking out a piece of clothing from her pouch.

"Well… We can start with your family," she mentioned while pushing it towards her friend so she could see the dragonfly crest. "This is the Tonbo's family symbol."

"Huh, a dragonfly…" Sora answered pensively. "I really do like dragonflies. They keep me company very often when I'm outside."

"They do seem to appear quite a lot around you to be frank," answered the white hair girl with a nod.

"Then, no offense to anyone here but, why are my parents not here looking for me instead of the lot of you?"

The people at the table exchanged a few looks. It seemed like Sora did not remember a lot. Seeing that no one really wanted to break the news, Shikamaru sighed.

"You lost your parents six years back. You've been living by yourself since then," he told her softly while trying to gage her reaction.

To everyone's surprise, she didn't seem to react at all. She stared at the boy in front of her as if trying to remember. A flash of two masked men at her door was all that she could seem to remember. She couldn't remember what her parents looked like. With a sudden thought, Shikamaru turned around and grabbed his backpack on the ground behind him. He then took out a bundle of clothing and unwrapped it carefully. In it was a pile of papers that seemed to have seen better days. A closer inspection revealed that the papers were a tad water damaged, most possibly from the boy's fall in the river. Yet, from some kind of struck of good luck, the damage was not that bad. The drawings could still be seen for the majority. He put them down in front of her tray.

"These are actually all your drawings that you had back home. Maybe looking through them will maybe help you?"

This actually brought a smile, a real one, to the girl's face.

"That's great! I can try to join them up with those I've been drawing since I got here. I've been drawing the images that I get in order to see if it could help me."

Seeing her smile raised everyone's spirit. What she told them gave them hope that they could help her. Seeing how objects seemed to help her, Ino took out the headband that she had been keeping in her pouch ever since Shikamaru had found it in the mountains. Slowly, she pushed it towards the other things that were on the tables.

"I think you should also take this seeing as this is yours."

Sora's smile vanished as she looked at the headband. She then looked at everyone around in the room to see that they also each had one, under one form or another. She then shook her head and pushed the headband back towards Ino.

"I'm sorry, but you must be mistaken. This can't belong to me."

They all looked at her with a very confused look.

"What do you mean?" asked Choji.

"Simple. There's no way that I'm a shinobi. I can't."

"But you are. You're a Hidden Leaf ninja like the rest of us. In fact, you're on the same team as Ino, Shikamaru and I," insisted the boy.

From his face, it was clear that this one particular lack of knowledge seemed to really hurt him.

"In fact, all of us here, with the exception of Sai," Reena pointed at the boy who had kept silent at the end of table so far, "went to the academy together. We're all friends here. "

Sora's face was becoming more and more white as people insisted. A few more people kept adding information such as their village, the kind of mission they do, her sensei, and the Hokage. Not able to take it anymore, Sora turned around, grabbed her crutches, and got up.

"I-I'm sorry. I can't do this. I'm not a shinobi. You're all mistaken. I need to be alone."

After grabbing only the piece of clothing and the drawings, she hurried the best she could out of the room. Everyone in the room looked sadly in her direction as she left. When she was gone, Choji spoke softly:

"I don't get it. Why is she so upset about being a shinobi?"

"And I thought things were going so well," added Ino while shaking her head in dismay.

Shikamaru sat there silently, staring at the headband and thinking. He was trying to see what could cause the girl to panic so much.

"Hey, Reena. If you would like, you could take out some steam in a little match with me in the back," suddenly spoke up Naruto.

Catching everyone's attention, people stared at Naruto then at Reena to see that the girl had her fists clenched and seemed to be shaking slightly with anger.

"Though I appreciate the offer Naruto, I have to say no. I can't wrestle you. It's not a good idea."

"But you know I can take it!" insisted the boy with a huge smile.

Reena got up and gave him a hard look.

"I said no. I need time alone. I need fresh air."

With these as her final words, she stormed out of the room as fast as she could, as if running from something. The rest of the group watched her leave.

"What's with her?" asked Ino dumbfounded.

Sakura shook her head.

"She's angry at the moment. I think we all are. She's probably just worried of losing it with Naruto and endangering him."

The boy crossed his arms and huffed.

"And I said I can take it. I'm tougher than I look. Heck, I'm tougher than anyone here."

"But she said no. At least, try to respect that," Sakura scolded him. "I'll try to see if Sora would like her check up. If I can figure out what aftereffects she's dealing with, I could try to whip up some remedy to help her. I'll let you guys know."

She then also left. As soon as she was gone, Naruto started getting up.

"Where are you going?" asked Ino, sceptical of what he could do.

The boy made a face, the one they recognised as when he is up to no good.

"I just need to talk with Reena."

"Sakura told you to leave her alone! Do you seriously not want to at least respect Reena when she asked to be alone?"

"But she didn't _ask_ per say," he said with an intense grin.

"Naruto!" she shouted as he suddenly hurried out of the room as if he could run away from the argument.

"Let him go, Ino. We can't stop him. What's the worse that could happen?" said Choji.

Ino sighed then turned towards Shikamaru for some support only to find him still thinking intensively.

"I know that face. What are you thinking?"

Shikamaru blinked a few times then looked at his two teammates. He noticed that there were only the three of them left. Sai seemed to have left unnoticed.

"Sorry, I was still thinking as to why Sora might be afraid of being a shinobi. I was thinking that she might have adapted to the thinking here in this town."

The two started thinking.

"It could be but how long do you think she has been here?" asked Ino.

The two boys shrugged.

"It really depends how quick she managed to escape the three brothers and how quick they reached the cave in the mountain," suggested Choji.

"She's been with us for almost a week now," said a voice behind them.

Turning around, they saw the elderly woman walking out of the kitchen.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry," she said. She then looked at all three of them. "I take it that things didn't go as well you would have hoped?"

All three of them shook their heads.

"She got spooked when we showed her the headband she normally wears and told her that she's a shinobi," explained briefly Shikamaru.

"We're not quite sure why," added Ino.

The old woman walked around the table and took a seat in front of them, pushing aside the still half full tray that Sora left behind.

"Well, she seemed to have been afraid ever since she got here. I remember her telling us that she had to hide but she didn't know from who or what. She could have associated that fear with the villagers' mentality here."

"Maybe…" said Shikamaru.

Though he agreed with her theory that resembled what he had come up with, he did not manage to agree. Something was telling him that there could be more to it.

"Does she ever talk about what she remembers?" asked Ino.

"Well, she shows us a few drawings that she makes. We found a few other sheets of papers with a drawing that we can't quite make out since it's been scratched out. She also gives us a few drawings. I think she believes that she owes us despite me and my husband constantly repeating to her that she doesn't," explained the woman, looking amused by the last fact.

"Maybe the drawings that you gave her will help, Shikamaru," said Choji while looking at his friends.

"I know it's easier said than done, but try to go slow with this girl. I've seen her progress quite a bit since we welcomed her here but I can see how too much information or pressure may just send her back," warned the woman.

The three nodded.

"We understand," said Shikamaru.

"It's just a bit hard to sit and wait," added Ino while scratching her head.

"Oh! Thank you for the delicious food by the way!" suddenly said Choji.

The woman laughed at his enthusiasm.

"My, my, you're welcome any time, child."

She slowly got up and started heading towards the reception desk. As she did so, she looked up the stairs, seeing Sakura come down and nodded at her. Once she reached the floor, Sakura headed towards the group left in the dining room.

"So what's the news?" asked Ino.

"Well, she didn't want me to look at her when I got there. It took a lot of convincing. It seems that she's not too hot with anything related to shinobis at the moment and that includes my treatment. However, I managed to at least change her mind about me at the end. Her leg is fixed but she'll need to avoid putting too much pressure on it till the pain that's still there is gone, like it was your case, Shikamaru. As for the aftereffects, I have a good idea about what is needed. The drugs she got were pretty strong unfortunately. It's affecting her a lot in different ways. Thankfully though, the remedy I'll make should help. I'm just short on several herbs. As for her head, I can't say. I got to look at it long enough to know that she suffered from a concussion, probably from a bumpy ride in the river. It explains her memory loss. However, she started getting another huge migraine and asked me to leave her head alone. It's probably another aftereffect. You guys want to help me find what I need to make the remedy?"

"Sure, it's better than staying inside, not knowing what to do," answered Ino with a shrug.

The other two agreed. Getting up, Shikamaru grabbed Sora's headband from the table. He would at least keep it with him until she was ready to see it again. Sakura then led them to the front desk. She scribbled on a piece of paper a list of what seemed to be a list of herbs and asked the owner if she knew where she could find them. The good news was they could all be found in town as they were not any kind of rare herb. The bad news is that they would need to go to different shops to find them which meant a lot more unfriendly stares from the villagers. Shikamaru let out a sigh. What was best: unfriendly stares from the villagers or the unrecognisable stare from Sora?


	31. Drawn Memories

On their way back from the market, it started raining again. Ino, Choji, Sakura, and Shikamaru were thankful for the cape they had brought along. It did also get a few of them to grumble at this continuous rain though. Yet, they were not so surprise when they noticed Sora sitting on a bench ahead of them, enjoying this rain.

"Well, apparently even her memory loss won't get her to stop loving rain," said Ino with a mocking smile.

"I guess some things are just not meant to change," replied Shikamaru with a shrug.

Ino looked at Shikamaru to see him looking sadly at the girl in the rain. It was clear that this situation was hard on him and that he was trying his best not to show it. She gave him a little push in the back that made him look at her.

"Just go. Go see her."

He hesitated. Seeing what her best friend was trying to do, Sakura did the same.

"Maybe just having only you around will be easier on her given that she'd feel less pressured."

Shikamaru looked at both girls and sighed.

"What a drag."

Both of them rolled their eyes at the same time and pushed him forward harder this time.

"Go," they both said.

It was quite scary seeing them both act in synchronism like this. In fact, he didn't see the two girls exchange a high five as he moved forward towards Sora though Choji clearly did. He slowly walked towards the girl, afraid that his presence would scare her away. He looked back in hesitation behind him to only find his three friends gone. How did they leave so fast?

"This place taken?" he said, pointing at the free spot beside her.

To his surprise, she looked at him with curiosity. No part of her seemed to be scared or irritated by him.

"Well, sure, if you don't like getting soaked by the rain that is," she said with a shrug.

He sat down beside her and saw her look back up towards the sky while closing her eyes.

"And it doesn't bother you?"

He always meant to ask only realize afterwards that perhaps it would have been better for him to wait until she regained her memories, if she ever did. Yet, she still seemed able to answer him.

"It's refreshing and calming. I can understand the annoyance of being soaked but, for me, it's something that's outweighed by the feeling of lightness I get from the rain."

She didn't see the thoughtful look he gave her. Maybe, just maybe, Sora was still in there somewhere and she could be reached unconsciously. He could now see how peaceful she looked there, just letting the light rain fall on her face.

"...I guess that the fact that I didn't listen to that pink hair girl's advice and went out without my crutches or any other type of support for my leg could also play in the fact as to why I'm sitting here under this rain at this specific moment," she added out of the blue, still looking up at the sky.

Surprised by the unexpected comment, he first looked at her in surprised then burst out laughing. It took him a few seconds to stop his sudden laughter all while she stared at him with a blush starting to appear on her cheeks.

"Sorry, sorry," he finally managed to apologize as he started catching his breath. "It's just that you've always been stubborn and it's finally catching up to you."

She looked even more embarrassed and finally decided to look the opposite way of him to hide her embarrassment. Seeing her act like so still got him chuckling. When he decided that he made fun of the situation enough, he took a deep breath to calm his laughter and finally offered:

"Want me to help you get back to your room in the hotel?"

"...if you stop making fun of me," she said, still not looking at him.

He could tell from her tone that she was more embarrassed then upset. With a soft smile, he got up and stood in front of her offering his hand. Once she grabbed his hand and pulled herself up on the leg that didn't hurt her, he asked:

"So which one do you prefer? An arm around my shoulders and I put an arm around your waist or do you just want a piggyback?"

She thought a little bit as a light frowned appeared on her face. Apparently, neither of the situation pleased her.

"There's no other option?"

"Well, I could carry you bridal style," he said as casually as possible to tease her.

She looked at him wide eyes, let out a huge sigh, and finally stretched an arm around his shoulders to show that she decided to take the first option. They first walk silently together as they slowly made their way to the hotel but Shikamaru soon realized that this silence was not the kind he was used to. He wouldn't have been able to put it into words but it was just not the same comfortable silence which finally made him speak up.

"So have you had the chance to look at the drawings I gave you?"

The girl let out a sigh.

"Yeah, I can definitely see that it's my drawings. They remind me about my parents. I can somehow remember them more now, especially my mother. Yet, I can't see any connections with those I've been drawings these last few days. What's even worse, I look at these drawings and can't tell what they are even if they were in my head."

Shikamaru thought for a second. She had flashes about things she remembered without remembering them.

"Do you…" the girl hesitated. "...think you could have a look at them and see?"

The boy was surprised by her question but quickly agreed to it. He didn't want to let that chance slip before he could take it. While he thought happily about the outcome, she brought him back to reality with a simple question.

"So, this is going to sound stupid but I'm really bad with names. Would you mind… repeating your name?"

Shikamaru first was sad about the question. However, after taking a deep breath, he convinced himself that he needed to be patient. Things wouldn't just suddenly come back all at once, would they?

"Shikamaru and I'll repeat any name that you want to have."

"What about that white hair girl that was sitting beside me this morning?"

"Reena, she's actually your best friend."

"My best friend? Ah man, I seemed to really have upset her this morning… well, along with the other people like the brown hair boy."

He gave her the best smile he could given the situation.

"Don't worry about it. Choji, Reena, and the rest of us understand the situation. We should actually apologize for all coming at you like that."

The girl looked down.

"I'm sorry. There's just something scaring me and I don't know what it is so I get really spooked easily."

Looking at her, Shikamaru felt like he was seeing a small broken and fragile animal. He truly felt bad for her at that moment. At the same time, he felt like he was dealing with a completely different person and that made him sad but he didn't want to show her and scare her away.

"So what are we?"

He blinked a few times, not understanding the question. He gave her a confused look.

"Well, I kinda came to the conclusion that you were perhaps my best friend given the previous circumstances but now you're telling me that the white hair girl… Reena, is my best friend. So what does that make of us?"

He hesitated. He didn't know himself because of what had happened right before this whole situation came down on them. Slowly, he started putting words together.

"Well… We are… on the same team… So we are teammates and… we are… close friends, being on the same team and all…"

For some curious reason, he wasn't able to look at her while answering which didn't seem to go unnoticed by the girl. She looked at him thoughtfully.

"Huh… I thought maybe we were perhaps something more but I'm not feeling it in me, so I guess not," she said quite bluntly.

He flinched at her statement and looked straight ahead of them. He couldn't believe what she just said. It felt like she had stabbed him with those words. Seeing the pain on his face, the girl realised her possible mistake and tried to catch up.

"But, you know, it's very calming to be around you. I'd really like it if you could help me…"

She then looked down at their feet, not sure if she could actually catch up anymore for what she said. Seeing how he wasn't responding, she finally added so low that Shikamaru almost didn't catch it:

"...the only thing I've been feeling continuously is fear. I can't seem to feel anything else."

That was when he finally looked at her. He understood that he couldn't blame her for how she was at the moment. It was just easier said than done at the end.

"I'll help you. Why don't we start with those drawings of yours?"

Looking up, she saw that they had reached the hotel's doors. They pushed through them and were welcomed warmly by the owner's smile. After smiling back at her, they went up the stairs, a floor above where the others' rooms were, and reached her room. When they got in, she separated herself from him while mentioning that her leg felt fine again. Seeing her walk around normally, as if to confirm what she had just said, he decided to tell her that he'd go get change in something a little more dry which would give her time to change too. Once again, something about seeing clothings sticking to her like a second skin was just not something he could deal with at the moment. Without giving her the chance to respond, he quickly left the room.

Going to his room, even for a few minutes felt like a good idea. Not only could he take off his cloak and feel a bit more dry, he could take the time to take a few huge breaths to ground himself. He realized at that moment that it was really difficult acting like everything was fine. When coming out of his room, he noticed that near the patio door, Sakura was sitting in one of the few chairs that was there and was mixing the herbs she had bought in a bowl. He somehow had not seen her on his way in. Perhaps, she had just arrived?

Noticing someone standing there, she looked up and smiled at the sight of Shikamaru.

"How is it going?"

He nodded a few times, as if to convince himself before answering.

"Good, good. I'm not spooking her apparently which is already a good start. She would also like for me to look at her recent drawings to help her. Maybe it could help."

She nodded thoughtfully, failing to noticed his hesitant demeanor.

"Good. Be sure to look for any signs of migraine or change of moods. If those happens, make sure to give her her space. Insisting could just make matters worse which we obviously want to avoid."

He nodded to realize that she hadn't notice as she was too focused on what she was doing.

"Did we get any feedback from our senseis' team?"

Sakura shook her head.

"I don't know. Reena has the radio. I can check with her if she tried again after making this remedy. I'll come by Sora's room to bring it when it's done."

"Sounds good," he simply said as he left.

He quickly got back to the door of Sora's room and knocked on it, wondering if she perhaps changed her mind. When she finally opened her door, he was not so surprised to see that she had put on a new pair of pants but had kept her humid top. In normal circumstances, he would have bullied her into getting fully changed like last time but since he didn't know if that was on the growing list of taboo things to do, he decided to drop it unwillingly.

"Come in, make yourself comfortable on my bed. I'll show you the drawings I got."

Sitting on the bed, he couldn't help but look at her. He noticed that even her hair was still dripping. He unconsciously let out a sigh which he was thankful that she didn't seem to notice as she sat down beside him with a pile of papers. Though she gave them to him to look through, she looked at them closely as if they would suddenly change into something she would suddenly remember. He flipped through a few of them and soon realized how much he loved the girl's art. It was in a way simple and light, filled with details without being overwhelming. He first stopped at one drawing.

"Huh, that's Konoha, our village. And from what I can see…" he held up the image higher in front of him to get a new perspective, "...it looks a lot like the view we get from your favorite spot." Seeing her confused look, he decided to elaborate. "It's up a hill, on the outskirts of the village. It's very calm and relaxing there. You go there very often."

He then went through a few more drawings that were about Konoha, all while describing them. They were from various places like the ramen shop they sometime went to, the BBQ restaurant the team often went to, the academy, the view of the top of the academy, the five Hokages in the stone wall, her house, and it kept going. He suddenly stopped at a drawing of a construction site.

"That's not so far your house. It's a school that's being built."

She nodded.

"Isn't it built by him?" she said as she brought out another drawing of whom he recognized to be Daichi.

"Yeah…"

At the sight of the drawing, he frowned a bit as anger built inside of him. He couldn't forget what had happened with him or what he did to her.

"He's part of the small glimpse I get. I think I went out with him but I don't remember what happened or if we're still together."

The boy laughed dryly without thinking.

"You're not and to be honest, I don't think the reason why you broke up is something you want to put your effort into remembering at the moment."

She looked at him, as if she wanted to insist, but the dark look he was giving the drawing convinced her otherwise. She decided instead to flip the drawing of Daichi to show another one under.

"What about him? I can clearly remember what he looks like but I don't know who he is. I think he's important…"

Shikamaru's eyebrows rose at the sight of it. It was surprisingly quite detailed, as if to confirm the girl's previous statement.

"That's Asuma-sensei. He's, well obviously, our sensei but I also discovered recently that he's your godfather and legal guardian. He wanted to take you in when your parents died but you decided that living alone was for the best. I think there hasn't been any real issues about it, really."

"Really? So he's a… shinobi?" she asked, hesitating on the last word.

He nodded.

"Yeah, in fact, he's part of the third team that's out at the moment. You'll be seeing him when he comes back soon. We're waiting on news to see when they are coming back. I'm sure you'd like to have a proper discussion with him. He'll be able to go into some details that I don't know myself, I'm sure."

He noticed that she looked worried suddenly.

"What's up?"

"There's more of you guys…?"

The boy was surprised.

"Well… we were three teams sent out for you. Actually two, but that's a long story and beside the point. You'll see. We won't hurt you. We're actually here to protect you."

The girl looked down.

"I just still have a hard time believing that I'm a shinobi…"

He could see her hands shaking and wondered for a bit if it was still the aftereffect of the drugs or fear. Deciding to move on, he continued looking through the drawings. Some things he didn't recognize such as a stone monument in a clearing that looked to be used for rituals. As he was looking through the drawing, the girl commented:

"You know, sometimes I wish we could draw emotions. Maybe like that I could explain better how I feel to you and the others…"

Shikamaru looked at her with a sadden look.

"Maybe you can't but we're open to talking with you. Perhaps discussing it will get us to understand better? If you ever want to talk about something, anything really, feel free to come see me. I'll gladly lend an ear."

She quietly nodded. _Drawing emotions…_ thought Shikamaru as he looked down towards the drawings. _If only there was such a thing._ Then he would be able to understand this different Sora which he's so desperately trying to reach out to. He finally stopped on another drawing and smiled.

"You drew a shōgi board?"

"Oh! Is that what it's called? I think I remember how to play it and knew what it looked like but couldn't remember how it was called for the life of me so I didn't want to ask the nice owner if she had it here. I've kinda been wanting to play it."

"Well, we can always ask later. Both sensei and me can play it quite well."

The girl frowned a bit.

"I suddenly have a bad feeling about playing against you…"

Before he could respond, a knock could be heard on the door. Quickly, he got up before the girl had the reflex to and opened it to find Sakura on the other side. She smiled at both of them and walked up to Sora.

"How has it been going? Still have a migraine?"

Sora shook her head.

"Not as bad as this morning."

"Good! Here take this," the girl offered a bottle. "I'll tell you now, it won't taste wonderful but do try to take it once in the morning and once in the evening. Hopefully, you'll start feeling the effects starting tomorrow."

Sora made the effort to smile.

"I really hope so to be honest. I'm not doubting your skills, I just can't wait to get rid of these shakes," she said as she raised a shaking hand to add some emphasis.

"Well, let me know. I'm here for you. If there's anything, even any symptoms that we haven't spoke about, let me know." Seeing the girl nod, Sakura then turned to Shikamaru. "Hey, I can't find Reena… Have you seen Naruto? I want to see if he's seen her."

"No but…" he stopped to thinking. He finally added with a shrug, "Oh right, he said he was actually going to talk to Reena despite our warning to respect her privacy."

Sakura looked really worried.

"No no no, I gotta go before Naruto does something stupid… if it's not too late already."

She then left in a hurry without saying goodbye. Sora gave a confused look at Shikamaru.

"What was that about?"

Shikamaru scratched his head, trying to find the best way to explain it.

"Well… you might not remember this but both Naruto and Reena are... special. Surprisingly enough, depending on the situation, Reena has sometime more control over it then Naruto. However, in other cases, she can easily slip. She's aware of it so at least she tries hard to avoid it."

Satisfied with his vague but accurate description, he nodded once for himself.

"Is it because of them being shinobis?"

Shikamaru smiled softly as he sat back down beside her on the bed.

"No. I know this is going to be easier said than done but you should try to stop being so afraid of absolutely everything related to shinobis. I'm not saying it's all 100% good but it's not the opposite either."

She looked down.

"Sorry, it's just that every time I think about shinobis this fear…" she grabbed the shirt over her chest, "...just gets much worse. It's suffocating. I really don't know why."

Shikamaru started thinking. It wasn't the villagers' attitude that influenced her then. If it had been, she would have had some kind of snarky comment to say similar to the ones he's been hearing while walking around town.

"I think maybe it's due with what happened with…" he then stop and thought furiously. Was bringing up the incident with the merciless brothers a good idea? What if it sent her back into shock and made her close up again?

As he was struggling to find what to say, Sora's head suddenly turned toward the window door that led to her balcony.

"What's that?" she asked as her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

Shikamaru didn't understand at first what she meant but he then felt it. There was a sudden huge amount of chakra flowing somewhere behind the hotel. As he got up, he heard shouting coming from outside. He rushed to the door and walked out from the balcony, closely followed by Sora.

"Naruto! Drop it! We don't need that here!"

Confused, he looked around to analyse the situation. On the lower and larger balcony, below where they were, he could see Sakura, Sai, Ino, and Choji standing there, staring at the back field. The back field was wide and clear, surrounded by large bushes that allowed the hotel's guest to relax without worrying about their surroundings. However, there seemed to have little relaxing being done at that moment as he noticed Naruto facing Reena who was now slightly crouched over, looking like a predator about to pounce. Chakra was clearly coming out of her.

Shikamaru looked backed at the now worried Sora.

"Stay here, I'll be back. Maybe even go back inside. I don't think that's something you should see."

He didn't wait for an answer as he jumped down to the other balcony to join the others. He already knew that no matter what he would say, Sora would stay out and watch what was happening, even if he desperately wished the opposite. She was just too curious and damn stubborn. Yet, when he reached the others and saw their worried face, his thoughts completely went to a different place.

"What's going on?"

"Naruto decided to go and provoke Reena into a fight regardless of what we said," explained Ino.

"She was staying away from us because she didn't want this to happen. Now, I don't know how to stop this!" added Sakura in panic.

The group watched the two in the back with worried faces. Reena charged quickly towards Naruto. Despite the speed she was going at, Naruto seemed to be able to keep blocking or avoiding her hits. Perhaps her lack of precision and control in this situation was giving him slightly the upper hand. However, her hits were done with brutal strength alone and it was clear that Naruto was already having a hard time keeping up. She was hitting and hitting _hard_. Every hit was packed with pure condensed chakra. When she turned around at one point, they briefly saw her face and what they saw was terrifying. Her pupils in her eyes were the usual slits that they became when she would call on the Houkou's chakra in a fight. However, what was terrifying was the slow transformation. She now had fangs and her face had just this bestial look to it.

However, it was when she started to crouch down on all four that the group snapped out of their daze.

"We need to go and try to stop this!" shouted Sakura as she jumped over the railing and ran towards the two fighting.

No one argued as they followed her, trying to decide what to do. Seeing them approach, Naruto shouted for them to stay out of it but no one listened to him. Reena took advantage of Naruto's distraction to come right at him. As he saw her suddenly in front of him, ready to strike, he knew it was too late for him to block. Yet, Sakura was not too late as she packed a punch and set Reena flying a few steps back.

"Reena, listen to me. You need to calm down!" shouted Sakura at her.

However, he voice didn't seem to reach her as Reena was already starting to get up and was glaring at her while growling.

"Naruto will stop, I promise!" attempted the pink hair girl again.

Naruto shouted "No, I wo-" but was interrupted by Sai who had the good sense to cover his mouth while getting him in a grapple.

"Ino, can't you use your mind transfer jutsu on her, at least to reach out and calm her down?" asked Shikamaru.

The girl's face turned white.

"No… no. I'm not doing that again. I'm never performing that jutsu again on her!"

"I could use my human boulder on her?" offered Choji.

Shikamaru shook his head.

"We want to try to avoid violence at this point. We're just going to piss her off more. We need to stop her long enough to get her to calm down."

With a sudden though, he performed a few handsign.

"Shadow possession jutsu."

They saw his shadow stretch out and link to her's. However, as the group watched, they soon realized that he never finished what he said with his usual "success". It soon became apparent that he was struggling as Reena fidgeted around. She was hard to hold down.

When his jutsu was about to break, they saw a shape run fast past them and soon Reena was pinned down to the ground. Soon enough, they saw the earth stretch out from under her and wrap around her. Above her, Kakashi was holding her face with one hand and staring at her with his Sharingan.

"Listen to me Reena. Listen to my voice. You can calm down, just listen to me," he kept repeating softly as they saw her calm down.

"What the hell happened here?" exclaimed a voice behind them.

Turning around, they saw Asuma followed by Kurenai and Gai. They all looked at each other, trying to figure out where to start. Finally, Sakura spoke up.

"It's a very long story. I think we should sit down for this discussion," she said as she started heading inside.

Soon enough, everyone started following them with the exception of Kakashi and Reena. Walking in the back, Shikamaru looked up at Sora's balcony to find the girl frozen there with a frightful look on her face. Realizing that she was being watched, she hurried inside and closed the door behind her.

"I need to check on something, I'll be right back," said Shikamaru as soon as they walked in the building.

The senseis didn't understand but he left without giving them an explanation. He didn't want to be the one to drop the bomb on them. Quickly running upstairs, he reached Sora's door and knocked softly on it. However, the only response he got from behind the door was:

"I want to be left alone, at least for today…"

He leaned against the door, discouraged of the outcome. Things had seemed to go well until this happened. Remembering what Sakura had told him about giving her space, he slowly backed away from the door. It was time to get everyone caught up with the current circumstances.

* * *

><p><strong>So I'm curious... Are any of my previous readers still following this? If so, please just enter a quick review to say you are following. It's really just for curiosity's sake. I won't stop writing or anything like that. <strong>

**Thanks guys :)**


	32. Feeling Numb

Shikamaru laid on his back, watching the clouds float by. He couldn't say if he was lost in thoughts or just in a trance. If any type of thoughts had crossed his mind, he wouldn't be able to say what it had been. Somewhere, during these last three days since his sensei had come back, his mind had given up on thinking or analyzing anything. It could have been related to his recent lack of sleep but he didn't even what caused that.

He closed his eyes, wishing he could float away with the clouds, wishing he could sleep on a cloud. He imagined that it would be peaceful up there. He would be able to look down and see things happen from a distance without being part of it. Part of him already felt like he was now just sitting on the sidelines and watching things unravel themselves. Since the incident with Reena and Naruto, Sora had refused to speak to anyone with one exception. She had asked to be alone until yesterday, where her curiosity seemed to have taken the best of her. That was the one time where she approached Asuma and had asked if he would like to talk. The man had not mention what had been said during that conversations which had happened behind closed doors. The group just knew that she hadn't been seen afterwards but Asuma did not seem too discouraged either.

Some talk had arisen about how they were possibly wasting their time here, waiting for Sora to recover her memories. Some had suggested to bring her back to Konoha. Sakura had opposed that motion, worried that a kind of shock could make the temporary memory loss of the girl last longer or even be permanent. Kurenai had also brought up during that discussion that they still needed to be on the lookout for the remaining two merciless brothers. They should have found their dead brother by now and seeing them let that fact fall between cracks was very unlikely. It was finally voted that they would stay in the village but would send Sai off to make a report as they had no other means of contact. Sai was also the most suited to travel alone and avoid the two missing nins. To top it off, the boy had offered it.

Thus, these few days had become a mix of time on the lookout for any signs of the two merciless brothers, relaxing time for some, and training time for others. Though training was never a bad thing, Shikamaru could not find an ounce of energy in himself to train. Relaxing had become the top thing to do on his very short list. Choji would join him once in awhile or convince him to go for a walk around town. So when he heard the sound of someone climbing to the roof, he first thought that his best friend had decided to join him to then realize that the person was making much less noise. He decided to stay there and wait for whoever was coming up as he watched another cloud float by.

"Long time no see," a feminine voice came near him.

Soon enough a flash of white hair came into view as Reena sat down not too far from him.

"You finally woke up," he commented.

The girl stretched out as if to confirm his statement.

"Mmmyeah, just got up. How long was I out?"

"Almost three days now."

"Shoot. Really? What did I miss?"

Without ever making the effort to sit up, he briefly explained the few decisions that had been made, carefully avoiding anything related to Sora. All the while, Reena took out food from what seemed like a little cloth wrap she brought up with her. She first offered him a rice ball that she had, which he accepted while explaining. Quietly, she munched on her food and listened while looking off in the distance. He finally ended with:

"Why did you come here if you just woke up? I'm surprised you didn't go see Kakashi-sensei."

The girl shrugged.

"I found him training in the back with Naruto. I was also surprised to find Sakura and Ino training together. They rarely get along when it comes to training."

Enjoying his peace and quiet up on the roof, the boy had heard some sound coming from down in the back but had never bothered to check who was there. Seeing him silent, Reena decided to venture herself in the subject which she knew was sensitive.

"...how have you been doing?"

Shikamaru didn't answer at first. How was he doing? He didn't know. He didn't think about that. Now that the question was brought up for surprisingly the first time, he reflected on it.

"Tired, I guess."

"Not sleeping well?"

"No."

"Did you ask Sakura for some advice? She's really good with these things."

"No."

They fell silent once more. Without him really noticing, she looked at him really worried. The truth was that she had seen Ino as they were both going out in the back and she had talked about how worried she was for her teammate. It had seemed that he had closed up and even his teammates couldn't speak to him openly. Guilt ridden by the circumstances, she had promised to try herself.

"Any progress since, you know, last time?"

"No."

Those simple answers from his part were really shutting out her efforts at making a conversation. Yet, she still continued trying.

"Did I scare her?"

Shikamaru hesitated and Reena noticed. She had asked a tricky question and his hesitation proved that he partly blamed her for it but did not want to openly do it. A light frown could now be seen on his face.

"I don't know."

Her shoulders slumped down in discouragement. She had hoped he would have answered "yes" and let out his anger. She was ready to take it and thought it would honestly helped him but the boy was shut tight. Thinking of what Sora would think of this, she shook her head. She would have been sad to see him act like that. Not used to having an open conversation with Shikamaru, she didn't quite know what to say. While still munching on her food, she tried to imagine what Sora would have done. With a final effort, she slowly started talking again.

"I… was really upset when I heard what had happened back in Konoha. I was ready to move heaven and earth to find her. When we found that missing nin and he told us about her jumping in that river, I think my heart stopped beating for a while. I was truly afraid. But then we found her," she stopped both eating and talking, looking off in the distance and trying to put words on how she felt. She normally felt anger, not sadness and the best way to take it out was to train and fight. Words were hard to use. "We found her but it was like a poisoned gift. I truly wonder at times if we're being punished for something."

She first looked at Shikamaru to see him still looking up at clouds, his face as emotionless as she had ever seen it. Thinking on what she just had said, she soon realized that she had lost her previous appetite despite being famished only minutes ago from her long slumber. She waited and wondered if Shikamaru had listened to her. Perhaps, she just was wasting her breath. Perhaps, there was no getting through his thick shell of his. Thinking she maybe should leave him alone after all, she started putting things back in the cloth and wrapped them up. She nearly jumped when Shikamaru finally spoke up.

"I feel like we didn't find Sora. That we just found a complete different person who looks like her but that is not her at all."

She looked back at the boy and saw that he actually had sat up. Looking down, he sighed.

"You know what she told me? That she didn't feel anything at all for me. She said it just like that, in the most casual way possible and I don't know what to do. I want to be there and be patient for her yet at the same time, I feel like I'm wasting my efforts and that she sometimes pushes me away. I even think of the possibility that she might not recover her memories. What will happen then? Will she be better off if I let her redo her life without me around? So to answer your earlier question, I don't know how I'm doing because I don't know what to feel."

Reena slowly nodded, glad that to hear him open up.

"You feel lost."

It was Shikamaru's turn to nod. Sitting side by side, they could see Naruto and Kakashi practicing their taijutsu. Though Naruto was getting better, Kakashi always found a way to trick him. Silently, they watched the training continue. Reena knew that now she got him to open up, this silence was a good and even peaceful one. This silence was meant to be.

From up there, they could also clearly see almost the whole village, the river and even the forest. It changed them from their usual view that they had in Konoha. Though relaxing felt a bit wrong, the change of scenery was actually doing everyone some good. However, anyone would have been ready to admit that they missed their usual ramen shop and the BBQ restaurant. The food at the hotel was good but still not their usual food.

Neither Reena nor Shikamaru knew how long they sat there relaxing. It could have been minutes like it could have been hours. Had they paid attention to the sun, perhaps they would have known but it was the last of their worries.

"Shikamaru," a voice called out from under them.

Looking over the edge of the roof, they noticed Asuma-sensei looking up at both of them. He was holding a game in his arms.

"Look what the owner of this hotel had all this time!"

Shikamaru focused on the game and realized that it was a shōgi board. His eyebrows shot up and a smirk started to form on his face.

"Care to join me?"

"Of course," finally replied Shikamaru.

As he started getting ready to jump off the roof, he looked back at Reena briefly.

"Thanks for what you did."

He then left without giving her the opportunity to answer or see her smile at her small unexpected victory. Reaching the wide balcony, he found his sensei lighting up a cigarette.

"You shouldn't smoke," he pointed out.

"Geez, not you too," replied his sensei with a frown. "Why don't you just set the board instead of starting to call me out on my habits?"

Yet, as Shikamaru started setting up the game, he heard Asuma chuckled. It brought a smile to his own face. Noticing it, Asuma felt relieved. It seemed that the boy had started coming out of his shell. Once it was ready, they started playing in silence as usual. While one thought about his move, the other would look out back to see the how the training was going on. Sakura and Ino had soon called a break, both exhausted. Shikamaru also came to notice Choji sitting on the stairs at the ground level that lead to outside, eating a bag of chip that he must have found while going around town.

This game lasted quite long as Asuma tried his best to find a way around Shikamaru's strategy. Yet, as always, the boy remained unbeatable. As they reached the last few turns of the game, a smirk could already been seen on his face while his sensei wore a deep frown. Finally, Asuma sighed.

"I was so close," he complained while scratching his head.

A booming voice soon brought both of their attention to the back of the hotel again.

"Kakashi, my eternal rival! Fight me!"

From Kakashi's sudden slump, they knew he was not in the mood for it, if he ever was. As Gai continued his speech, Kakashi turned to Naruto and said something that no one could hear. Finally, he took out his usual orange book and hid his face in it all while walking around and away from the shouting man. Upset by this, Gai looked around and finally stared at Naruto that started panicking. Without a chance to escaped, Gai had already gripped him, prompting him for some 'legendary' training.

"Who won?" came a voice behind both Shikamaru and Asuma.

Wide-eyes, they turned around and saw Sora standing there awkwardly in a dress. Neither of them was able to hide their surprise at her sudden appearance seeing how she had remained unseen for the most time during these last few days. It was finally Asuma that snapped out of their daze and answered the girl.

"Shikamaru, as always. He's always so damn hard to beat."

Shikamaru shrugged.

"What can I say? Your moves are just too obvious for me to not see through them."

Asuma faked to be offended by his comment while taking out his cigarettes. A small smile made it obvious that he was too happy about the turn of event to be offended.

"Would you mind if I play…?" asked Sora hesitantly.

Again, it was Asuma doing all the talking.

"Sure, of course. Who do you want to play against? I'll warn you, Shikamaru is hard to beat."

"I'll still try to play against him," she answered with a shrug.

"You have been warned," said the sensei as he got up from his spot and sat around so he could watch the board from the side and still see the back where Naruto was surprisingly training enthusiastically.

Sora came to take his spot as Shikamaru silently started setting up the game. She looked at Asuma lighting up his cigarette.

"You shouldn't smoke. It could kill you, you know."

He looked at her and let out a dramatic sigh as Shikamaru started chuckling. Confused, she look at both men. Seeing this, Shikamaru decided to clarify.

"You always call him out on it, along with others."

"Others being you who started being nosy about it, Shikamaru," grumbled Asuma.

"What can I say? We're all looking out for your well-being, sensei."

The board was finally set. Seeing how Shikamaru had won the previous game against Asuma, Sora offered to let him start while their sensei shook his head disapprovingly. Yet, they were all surprised to see that the girl was able to maintain her own quite well. As she had guessed, when she was going through her drawings, she remembered how to play this game. Yet, remembering did not help her win against Shikamaru.

"Maybe I could let you win next time," he mentioned as he watched her reanalyse the board once more.

"That wouldn't be fair play. I like winning fair and square."

"You're right. It would be too much of a drag to cheat," he said with a mocking smirk.

The sense of déjà-vu strongly hit him at that moment. Sensing nostalgy filling him, he looked down. Yet, he was surprised to hear the girl laugh lightly. Surprised, he looked back up at her.

"Sorry! I don't know why, but your response is just making me laugh," she quickly apologized with one of her rare smiles.

Asuma looked at both at them and then smiled himself. It was like seeing the both of them talking like normal times. A voice suddenly rang from behind him.

"Food time!" shouted Choji who had come up to see them.

When the boy entered the back and noticed Sora, his eyes first widened but he quickly smiled warmly at her. The two men slowly got up and Shikamaru mustered his courage to ask the girl:

"Will you be joining us? We won't talk about you unless you ask us to," he promised.

The girl hesitated and thought all the while staring at Shikamaru. She finally nodded.

"Sure, I'll try it. I'm hungry."

She quickly followed the group with Shikamaru behind her. As they were about the hit the main stairs to go down to the ground floor, the boy stopped a few seconds and grabbed the railing beside him. For a split second, he felt dizzy and saw his surrounding spin around him. After blinking a few times, things settled back in their places and everything was back to normal. Shikamaru wondered if he had just imagined what had happened to him. As he started heading down the stairs, he noticed Sora standing at the bottom, giving him an odd look. Yet, she didn't say anything and simply walked in the dining room where everyone else was.

There, everyone sat together. At their end of the table, Shikamaru sat between Ino and Choji. In diagonal from him was Sora sitting at the complete end beside Reena. As promised, the food was served quickly by the owner all around the table. Everyone quickly dug in, eating like there was no tomorrow. The food that the elderly woman made was simply heavenly. However, after a few bite, Shikamaru slowed down, feeling nauseated every time he chewed. Hoping it would come to pass, he swallowed some water and waited. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice, with the exception of Sora. When he started drinking only, she stared out of the corner of her eye. She then looked at everyone else around the table to find no one else noticing his strange behaviour and finally figured that it must not be anything she needed to worry about.

A few minutes after he had finished his water, Shikamaru closed his eyes for a few seconds. The room had started spinning again and he was thankful that he was sitting down this time as it lasted longer. When it stopped after a good thirty seconds, he slowly got up, afraid of triggering it again.

"Hey, I'm feeling really tired suddenly. I'm going to go lay down," he told everyone.

Some of them nodded and soon he was gone without another word. Seeing that Shikamaru had not finished his plate, Choji gladly scooped the leftover unto his plate and continued eating with a satisfied smile while Ino shook her head in disapproval. All through supper, there was light chatter around the room and Sora was surprised to find herself enjoying the atmosphere. As Shikamaru had promised her, no one pressured her by talking about what she did or did not remember and she was thankful for it. She desperately wanted something to feel normal, even if she didn't know what normal really was.

Surprisingly, she was the first one to finish her plate, making her realize that she had been much more hungry than she thought. She soon got up and thanked everyone for having her which of course made everyone happy. Heading up the main stairs, she started heading toward the right side to get the second set of stairs when she heard something flying around. She stopped in her tracks and looked around her. It didn't take long before she spotted a bright blue dragonfly flying around her.

"Hey little buddy. What are you doing in here?"

Realizing that she might look silly talking to a dragonfly, she quickly glanced around to see if anyone was watching her. Even if the coast was clear, she lowered her voice before continuing.

"You know I love seeing you guys around but I don't think others would be happy to see you inside this hotel. Come on, we need to get you out before someone becomes upset."

As she turned towards the stairs leading down, determined to bring it out the main door, she noticed it flying a different direction.

"Hey, come back!" she whispered loudly, feeling even more silly.

Instead, it started flying the left side of the stairs but came back as if realizing that she was not following. It then flew back and forth. She scratched her head, feeling like she needed to follow it. Giving into her curiosity, she finally started slowly walking in its direction.

"Ah man, people will seriously think I'm weird if they see me…"

They soon reached a wide glass door leading to a common room which she realized was the corner where the shinobis were currently staying. She looked at the dragonfly that hovered in front of the door.

"I can't go in there without a reason…"

But it didn't budge at her comment, as if waiting. Not wanting to get in trouble, she first turned around to go back but the blue dragonfly quickly flew around her head, clearly disapproving her choice. The only time it would stop doing this was when she would look back at the door.

"Fine! Fine… You win. What's so important?"

She got back closer to the door and hesitated before reaching for the door knob. What if the others thought she was snooping around? She couldn't tell them she was following a dragonfly. They would surely think she was crazy!

She raised her eyes through the glass door, wondering what to do until her eyes stopped on something on the ground. In panic, she threw the door open and ran to it to find Shikamaru laying unconscious on the ground. Grabbing him by the shoulders, she first shook him lightly then more roughly.

"Shikamaru. Hey, Shikamaru. Wake up!"

She lowered her head to his chest and listened. There was a heart beat. Raising her head though, she noticed how pale his face seemed. It looked almost ghostly. Something was clearly wrong.

"Help!" she started yelling as loud as she could in panic. "Someone, help!"

She didn't want to leave the boy at first but then realize that no one might hear her if she stayed. Getting up shakingly, she started running downstairs towards those she needed to trust as friends.

* * *

><p><strong>So I'm curious... Are any of my previous readers still following this? If so, please just enter a quick review to say you are following. It's really just for curiosity's sake. I won't stop writing or anything like that. <strong>

**Thanks guys :)**


	33. Panic Attack

After Shikamaru had been taken to the bed in his room, everyone made some space for Sakura to do her thing. Though she did not mind leaving the door of the room opened, she requested to have everyone wait outside. It took several minutes for Sakura to come out of the room with a deep frown. Shikamaru was not doing well. It seemed like he was reacting to a slow acting poison but this poison was unknown to her. She would need a sample of it to be able to make a counteracting remedy.

This left everyone confused. As far as they were concerned, Shikamaru had not left the hotel in the last few days and for him to react now to the poison, especially at the speed it was acting now, it had to have been consumed quite recently. The option that he could have gotten it from the hotel's kitchen was soon ridden out as no one else had been affected. It had to have come to an outside source.

The group stood in silence in the common room, racking their brain to figure out where it came out. It was only when Reena stood rigid with a pale face that they suddenly had a lead. Toward the beginning of the afternoon, she had went to eat on the roof where Shikamaru was relaxing. During their discussion, she had given him the riceball from the lunch kit she had bought in town since she did not want to bother the owner of the hotel at an odd time for food. At the end, the poison had been directed to her, not Shikamaru.

When she offered to go see the boy at the stand that she bought the food from, Ino interferred. If the poison had been meant for her, it was a bad idea for her to show up again. She then offered to go instead, deciding that her charms would do the trick to convince the boy to give her a sample of the poison. Though sceptical, no one in the group argued. There were not many choices present at the time. Doing anything out of the ordinary or rough that could scare the villagers would be bad seeing the already existing tension.

Impatiently they waited for about 10 minutes as Ino had headed out to the stand that Reena had indicated. When the blond girl reappeared in the room with her shoulders slumped down, they already knew the result of her 'flirting'. Turns out that being a shinobi had killed the charm right from the start, no matter how hard she had tried. At the end, she bought a lunch from the stand, hoping he had poisoned that one too but Sakura mentioned that it would take a lot longer that way to extract the poison and that is if there was poison in the food.

Sora saw all of them trying so hard to find a solution and part of her felt awful. She had that fear of them right from the start but seeing them now made her realize how normal they were. Like anyone else, they protected those who were dear to them. Filled with a new resolve, she left the room without letting anyone know. She did not stop her quick strides till she reached the stand, despite her leg still hurting a bit. Seeing her, the boy was all smile.

"Kyuu! It's been a while!"

She leaned on the counter of the stand and tried to look as friendly as possible. No one knew in this village that she was apparently a shinobi. This would greatly play in her favor.

"Hey, Koki. I was in the mood for one of your fabulous lunch but then realized on my way here that I forgot my wallet. I'd go back to the hotel but you know… there seems to be quite the commotion there with those shinobis at the moment."

She saw a smirk form on his lips and knew that she had him.

"Heh. Maybe with that, those damn shinobis will leave our village."

"Oh? Do you know what's going on?" she asked, faking ignorance.

"Sure do. Since no one here has the courage to make them leave, I decided to step up."

"No way! What did you do?"

She was now trying to look impressed and the boy, too proud of himself, did not seem to see through it.

"Added a bit of poison to a rice ball in their lunch. Not too much to make it obvious though I think they might have caught on seeing how one of them came here not too long ago. At least, I thought they knew but then the dumb shinobi bought one of my lunches. So who knows, really. At least now, they'll want to leave in order to get help for the one that's sick."

Sora thought about what the boy said. The shinobis could have left right away to seek help from their village to help Shikamaru, but they didn't. Was moving him too dangerous? _No, they're staying for you_, part of her whispered. Determined to help them, she decided to continue her act.

"Huh, that's so cool! Though, I got to admit that I'm surprised that you, of all people, have poison with you. You know, selling food and all."

The boy smiled.

"Actually, it was an odd coincidence. This scroll merchant came to town and stopped here to eat. From talking with him, I discovered that he hates shinobis just as much as we do. He's actually the one that gave me the idea and the poison to drive them out of here. Clever, really."

A cold chill ran through her. _Scroll merchant_. That sole thought made her cold. The fear that had been floating around in her and had gotten worse at any mention of shinobis now had spiked at the mention of this men. She was not just afraid. Her body wanted to run like hell and even without knowing where this man was. Somehow, she knew that this scroll merchant was a shinobi. It made sense to her now. She was not afraid of shinobis. She was afraid of _that_ shinobi. Yet, she still felt like that wasn't the complete reason. There was still some elements missing.

"Hey, Kyuu. Are you okay? You're shaking all of a sudden."

She blinked a few times before realizing that she was clenching her fists so tight that her arms were shaking. Fear had suddenly let a new emotion come into play: anger. She gave him a hard look.

"It's Sora now and you, Koki, are such a fool." She watched the boy's eyes widen in surprise at her low yet ice cold tone. "You, along with everyone here, hate shinobis fervently because of the violence and misery they can breed. And what do _you_ do? You take that one element that make them so bad and use it against them. You took poison from a shinobi just to hurt, even possibly _kill_, a shinobi. What makes you any better than them now, hm?"

The boy had taken a few steps back from the once innocent looking girl. Not once had she raised her voice but it had sounded so dangerous that Koki now wanted to run.

"I-I didn't think of that."

"No, you didn't think _at all_," she added, leaning more on the counter.

"I-I don't want to kill anyone. I-I don't want to be a murderer!"

She stretched out on hand.

"Then give me what's left of the poison so I can bring it to them and they can cure it. You shouldn't have poison with you anyways."

"But… what if they know it's me?"

"I won't be the one to tell them," she answered firmly while she finished her sentence in her head: _since they already know_.

The boy clearly felt guilty as he quickly looked through his things. He finally pulled out a tiny packet and gave it to her. Without adding another word, she took it and left. She rushed back to the hotel and ran upstairs. There she found the group looking like they were at lost for solutions. From their surprised looks, it was clear that they didn't notice her absence. Though they were even more surprised when she opened her hand and showed the packet containing the poison.

Sakura rushed up to her, grabbed it and with one glimpse at it, she knew that it was what she needed. She didn't so much say a word as she rushed to her own room to grab what she would need and, without wasting a moment, started preparing the remedy. As Sora sat down, feeling suddenly exhausted from what had happened at the stand, Ino walked up to her.

"How did you do it? How did you convince him?"

Sora looked up sadly at the blonde girl.

"He wouldn't have helped a shinobi, no matter how much charm you would have used on him. His hate was too strong but I don't think it will ever be the same now."

Ino nodded in understanding. Sora had went as a regular girl, not as a shinobi. Though it made her a bit sad to think so, the girl was still happy that it had worked out in their favor. She was even more happy that Sora cared enough to do it, despite being afraid of shinobis. Little did she know how that was now changed.

Then left to her own thoughts, Sora covered her face with her hands and tried to piece together the little bit that she had. Those cuts and bruises that she had on her must of come from that scroll merchant. They still hurt, even burned a lot, but she had not shown them to Sakura the first time around, afraid that she would mark her as an enemy. But the scroll merchant… wasn't alone. She knew without knowing. Perhaps, if she was a shinobi, she could have taken on one man. There had to be more. She took a deep breath and tried as hard as she could to grab hold of this new memory and remember.

_She was in pain. It was burning. Even breathing was difficult. She wasn't tied up anymore. She could move her arms. Could she really? No way to tell. Everything was distorted around her. She wasn't standing. She couldn't stand. She could move but where to? She couldn't tell up from down. She wanted to die._

_Shouting came from a distance. An argument. Not all the words were clear. It was about her. She didn't have what they wanted. What to do with her now?_

_She could hear it. The sound of water. Rushing. Fast. Calling. Calling to her. Slowly but surely she moved. Couldn't get up. Hurt too much. Even crawling hurt. _

_Shouting burst behind her. Meant for her. She couldn't touch anything. It was like floating. Or was it… falling? The sound of rushing water was growing near. Fast. _

_Can't breath. Can't move. Was she dying?_

A pressure on her arm pulled her harshly back to reality. She barely heard Asuma in front of her as he said:

"Shikamaru will be okay. We all have you to thanks."

She jumped and looked at him wide eyes. Doing her best to catch her breath, she tried to calm down but the images were still vivid in her memory. Seeing her, Asuma grew worried. He looked around to see if anyone was listening and kneeled down in front of her to be at eye level. He then took the risk to reach out and cup her face in his hands.

"Are you okay, Sora? What's happening? Talk to me."

She opened her mouth to speak but her throat was dry. She felt like a fish out of water as she tried to gasp for air. The air was too heavy. Or was it too thin? She couldn't tell. Blinking to clear her now blurry vision, she did her best to focus on Asuma's face. She could still feel it. The feeling of drowning was crystal clear. It was like reliving it all over again.

There were noises around her, possibly shouting, but she could barely hear it. Her mouth was wide open, trying to breath the best she could. She gripped Asuma's arm as hard as she could, clinging the best she could to reality, as if it would save her from drowning. There was a blur of pink in front of her and then everything went dark.

_A silver scroll. She could see it, almost touch it. It was floating in front of her. _

"_Where is the scroll?" a voice shouted._

_Three men now stood there. They wanted a silver scroll. What was so important with this scroll? She couldn't remember. They were furious. One of them took out an odd shaped knife. It was almost like a kunai knife but it was slightly curved. There were ways to make someone talk. There were worst things to fear than death. She would know soon._

With a loud gasp, she sat up. Looking quickly around her, she saw that a bed had been set up in one corner of the common room for her. Soon enough, Sakura ran up to her.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay, you need to lay down now."

Feeling gently pushed back down, Sora didn't resist. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with air and enjoying the feeling of breathing again. She then pulled her hands to her face and rubbed it vigorously.

"W-what happened?"

"You had a panic attack. You hyperventilated so much that you ended up passing out. Thankfully, you were sitting down at the time."

Sora noticed that the lights around her were not coming from the sun but from the lights in the room. The sun had come down while she was out.

"How is she?" asked a worried voice coming from beside her.

Turning her head to the side, she saw that beside Sakura, there was only Asuma left in the room.

"Better from what I can see," quickly answered Sakura as she started checking her pulse.

"Almost gave me a heart attack there."

"Sorry," apologized Sora in a small tone.

"Don't," said Sakura firmly. Then looking closer at her face, she asked in all seriousness: "Do you know what could have caused you to slip in a panic attack?"

Sora squeezed her eyes shot for a minute. She then reopened them slowly.

"I-I think I remembered what happened to me, but I don't remember anything else. I don't even remember absolutely everything that happened. Why can't I remember everything? Am I too scared?" she asked frantically.

Sakura squeezed her shoulder softly.

"There's no specific theory behind temporary memory loss, Sora. Sometimes it comes back all at once. Sometimes it comes back in pieces. Other times, it becomes permanent due to a shock that was too great, damage to the brain, or even lack of oxygen."

"Does that mean I'll never remember anything else?" Sora asked, suddenly worried. There had to be better memories to remember than _those_. She felt that she would go crazy if she was to never remember anything else.

"Only time will tell us," answered the pink hair girl softly. "Now, why don't you tell us what you remember?"

"Three men. I remember three men. One disguised as a scroll merchant. They wanted something… a scroll. They wanted a scroll. They drugged me and tortured me. When they realized that I didn't have any answers, they continued out of anger. I jumped down in the river, at least that's what I tried to do. I was too drugged to know what was really happening. I had to do it, I couldn't take it anymore."

She hadn't realized that she was crying until Asuma had kneeled down beside the bed and wiped away a tear from her face.

"Why did I have to remember that? Why can't I just remember who you guys are or even who I am?"

Sakura shook her head.

"It could be because there was a trigger or those were your last memory. It was a traumatic experience after all. It could be what was blocking your memories and what still is blocking on the rest. Your body could be trying to survive by only giving you the information it deems that you need to do it."

Sora took another deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. It was like being told to act a role with a script without knowing what character you were actually playing. She needed to remember more than this.

"Give yourself a chance, Sora. You've been through a lot. We'll take this one step at a time," added Asuma encouragingly. "Why don't you rest for the moment? You seem exhausted."

Sakura nodded in agreement as they both got up.

"We'll get you to sleep here for at least tonight to keep you close to us. We didn't want to move your room without you agreeing to it."

"Sa… Sakura," Sora struggled to remember her name. "There's something I need to talk to you about but, um, in private."

She then gave an unsure look to Asuma. Though she wanted him to stay, she couldn't do what she wanted with him there. Sakura turned towards the man and nodded. With that, he left.

"Everyone is eating downstairs and Shikamaru is still sleeping, so there's no worry about being interrupted. What did you have to say?"

"Well… It's actually more what I need to show you," Sora said hesitantly.

With that, she slowly pulled her shirt up the best she could to expose her belly. Sakura's eyes widened.

"Is that what they…?" she said, kneeling back down beside her to inspect the cuts and bruises.

"Part of it. I have some on my back and one of my shoulder is hurting too."

"Sora! Why didn't you show me that earlier?"

"I… didn't trust anyone before now. Things have changed."

Without blaming her any further, she went out and got some ointment and bandages. She slowly took the time to check every single one of them carefully as Sora pointed them out. Slowly, they made their way through them and the girl felt herself slowly drift off to sleep. Satisfied, Sakura got up and quietly left, letting the girl catch up on her sleep.


End file.
